Healthcare reform initiatives have mandated reducing preventable hospital readmissions, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is now implementing reimbursement penalties to hospitals with relatively higher rates of Medicare readmissions.
Under the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP), hospitals with readmission rates that exceed the national average are penalized by a reduction in payments across all of their Medicare admissions — not just those which resulted in readmissions.
Fortunately, studies show that hospitals can engage in several activities to lower their rate of readmissions. For example, hospitals that clarify patient discharge instructions and coordinate with home care providers and patients’ primary care physicians have been able to achieve 20-50% reductions in hospital readmissions.
The greatest concern of hospital health care providers is the same as ours at FirstLight Home Care — the health and well-being of those we care for. Unplanned hospitalizations and readmission of those with acute and chronic diagnoses is a challenge in today’s continuum of care, causing patients unnecessary suffering and the system increased costs.
FirstLight Home Care Reduces Readmission Rates by:
- Improving quality patient outcomes.
- Enhancing the patient experience by keeping them in the comfort of home.
- Lowering costs by rescuing healthcare institutions from HRRP readmission penalties.
How Does Non-Medical In-Home Care from FirstLight Help?
By creating a personalized patient-focused strategy, FirstLight Home Care educates the patient, family and caregivers and provides 24-hour availability and response for:
- Assisting with special diet meal preparation.
- Ensuring exercise and hydration instructions are followed.
- Providing medication reminders and transportation to follow-up medical appointments.
- Observing, measuring and monitoring key indicators of declining condition.
- Early intervention to alert primary care physicians.
Special Programs and Protocol for Common Avoidable Readmission Conditions
- Pneumonia
- Congestive Heart Failure
- Acute Myocardial Infraction
Learn more about how FirstLight Home Care can help reduce hospital readmission rates on contacting us directly at 360-489-1621.