Studies: Collaboration with caregivers can help reduce readmissions

Working well with community-based caregivers is the key to reducing hospital readmissions, two research studies released in October found, according to HealthLeaders Media. Medicare payments for hospital readmissions cost the government approximately $26 billion each year.

A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that hospitals need to have trusting relationships with local providers or they will run into problems. A different outpatient care model is needed, said lead researcher L. Elizabeth Goldman, MD. A separate study in the American Journal of Managed Care reached similar conclusions. Both studies found that elderly, seriously ill patients were both prone to readmission and not easily aided by intervention efforts. Ultimately, the solution will be a complex and difficult one.

Read the HealthLeaders article here.