Contributed by HRSA
Avoidable hospital readmissions are under close scrutiny by policymakers, providing hospitals with added impetus to reduce costs and increase quality of care. The new Health Care Leader Action Guide to Reduce Avoidable Readmissions, funded and produced by The Commonwealth Fund, the John A. Hartford Foundation, and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) of the American Hospital Association, provides a quick, simple resource for hospital leaders to get started on an action plan for reducing readmissions.
The guide outlines four key steps for hospital leaders:
- Examine your hospital's current state of readmissions.
- Assess and prioritize your improvement opportunities.
- Develop an action plan of strategies to implement.
- Monitor your hospital's progress.
In addition, the guide synthesizes the underlying strategies of interventions that have been successful in reducing unplanned readmissions, and it evaluates the level of effort required to implement these strategies.
