Tiptastic Tuesday: 9 Ways To Reduce Hospital Readmissions

A recent report from the American Medical Association (AMA)  highlights the critical role office-based doctors play in helping their patients make safe transitions after being discharged from the hospital.

To help avoid rehospitalizations, physician practices should:

• Keep organized information on patients’ medical issues, health goals, functional and psychological status, and behavioral and social issues.
• Consider patients’ acute, intermediate and long-term care goals.
• Be explicit with patients about social, economic, cultural and other factors that may impede their care.
• Use reader-friendly tools such as checklists and “red flag” lists to help patients and caregivers with self-management tasks.
• Use motivational interviewing and teach-to-goal methods to support self-care.
• Use pharmacy, patient and hospital discharge lists to ensure a fully reconciled and accurate medication list after discharge.
• Reinforce medication changes made in the hospital with patients, as appropriate.
• Use “pill cards” to help patients track drug changes.
• Allocate time to address care coordination tasks, using templates and checklists for specific tasks.