About 1 in 5 Medicare fee-for-service patients discharged from the hospital is rehospitalized within 30 days In this systematic review of 43 studies evaluating interventions to reduce readmission 

Interventions to Reduce 30-Day Rehospitalization: A Systematic Review

Importance Reducing early ( Objective To synthesize the evidence of the efficacy of interventions to reduce early hospital readmissions and identify intervention features—including their impact on treatment burden and on patients’ capacity to enact postdischarge self-care—that might explain their varying effects. Data Sources We searched PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, EBSCO CINAHL, and Scopus (1990 until April 1, 2013), contacted experts, and reviewed bibliographies. Study Selection Randomized trials that assessed the effect of interventions on all-cause or unplanned readmissions within 30 days of discharge in adult patients hospitalized for a medical or surgical cause for more than 24 hours and discharged to home. Data Extraction and Synthesis Reviewer pairs extracted trial characteristics and used an activity-based coding strategy to characterize the interventions; fidelity was confirmed with authors. Blinded to trial outcomes, reviewers noted the extent to which interventions placed additional work on patients after discharge or supported their capacity for self-care in accordance with the cumulative complexity model. Main Outcomes and Measures Relative risk of all-cause or unplanned readmission with or without out-of-hospital deaths at 30 days postdischarge. Results In 42 trials, the tested interventions prevented early readmissions (pooled random-effects relative risk, 0.82 [95% CI, 0.73-0.91]; P I 2  = 31%), a finding that was consistent across patient subgroups. Trials published before 2002 reported interventions that were 1.6 times more effective than those tested later (interaction P  = .01). In exploratory subgroup analyses, interventions with many components (interaction P  = .001), involving more individuals in care delivery (interaction P  = .05), and supporting patient capacity for self-care (interaction P  = .04) were 1.4, 1.3, and 1.3 times more effective than other interventions, respectively. A post hoc regression model showed incremental value in providing comprehensive, postdischarge support to patients and caregivers. Conclusions and Relevance Tested interventions are effective at reducing readmissions, but more effective interventions are complex and support patient capacity for self-care. Interventions tested more recently are less effective.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/articlepdf/1868538/ioi140038.pdf

Preventing 30-day hospital readmissions: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.

Comprehensive discharge planning and home follow-up of hospitalized elders: A randomized clinical trial

Background Medication discrepancies at care transitions are common and lead to patient harm. Medication reconciliation is a strategy to reduce this risk. Objectives To summarize available evidence on medication reconciliation interventions in the hospital setting and to identify the most effective practices. Data Sources MEDLINE (1966 through February 2012) and a manual search of article bibliographies. Study Selection Twenty-six controlled studies. Data Extraction Data were extracted on study design, setting, participants, inclusion/exclusion criteria, intervention components, timing, comparison group, outcome measures, and results. Data Synthesis Studies were grouped by type of medication reconciliation intervention—pharmacist related, information technology (IT), or other—and were assigned quality ratings using US Preventive Services Task Force criteria. Results Fifteen of 26 studies reported pharmacist-related interventions, 6 evaluated IT interventions, and 5 studied other interventions. Six studies were classified as good quality. The comparison group for all the studies was usual care; no studies compared different types of interventions. Studies consistently demonstrated a reduction in medication discrepancies (17 of 17 studies), potential adverse drug events (5 of 6 studies), and adverse drug events (2 of 2 studies) but showed an inconsistent reduction in postdischarge health care utilization (improvement in 2 of 8 studies). Key aspects of successful interventions included intensive pharmacy staff involvement and targeting the intervention to a high-risk patient population. Conclusions Rigorously designed studies comparing different inpatient medication reconciliation practices and their effects on clinical outcomes are scarce. Available evidence supports medication reconciliation interventions that heavily use pharmacy staff and focus on patients at high risk for adverse events. Higher-quality studies are needed to determine the most effective approaches to inpatient medication reconciliation.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/articlepdf/1203516/iiq120035_1057_1069.pdf

Hospital-based medication reconciliation practices: a systematic review

New financial penalties for institutions with high readmission rates have intensified efforts to reduce rehospitalization. Several interventions that involve multiple components (e.g., patient needs assessment, medication reconciliation, patient education, arranging timely outpatient appointments, and providing telephone follow-up) have successfully reduced readmission rates for patients discharged to home. The effect of interventions on readmission rates is related to the number of components implemented; single-component interventions are unlikely to reduce readmissions significantly. For patients discharged to postacute care facilities, multicomponent interventions have reduced readmissions through enhanced communication, medication safety, advanced care planning, and enhanced training to manage medical conditions that commonly precipitate readmission. To help hospitals direct resources and services to patients with greater likelihood of readmission, risk-stratification methods are available. Future work should better define the roles of home-based services, information technology, mental health care, caregiver support, community partnerships, and new transitional care personnel.

Reducing Hospital Readmission Rates: Current Strategies and Future Directions

RATIONALE:
Care coordination has shown inconsistent results as a mechanism to reduce hospital readmission and postdischarge emergency department (ED) visit rates.

OBJECTIVE:
To assess the impact of a supplemental care bundle targeting high-risk elderly inpatients implemented by hospital-based staff compared to usual care on a composite outcome of hospital readmission and/or ED visitation at 30 and 60 days following discharge.

PATIENTS/METHODS:
Randomized controlled pilot study in 41 medical inpatients predisposed to unplanned readmission or postdischarge ED visitation, conducted at Baylor University Medical Center. The intervention group care bundle consisted of medication counseling/reconciliation by a clinical pharmacist (CP), condition specific education/enhanced discharge planning by a care coordinator (CC), and phone follow-up.

RESULTS:
Groups had similar baseline characteristics. Intervention group readmission/ED visit rates were reduced at 30 days compared to the control group (10.0% versus 38.1%, P = 0.04), but not at 60 days (30.0% versus 42.9%, P = 0.52). For those patients who had a readmission/postdischarge ED visit, the time interval to this event was longer in the intervention group compared to usual care (36.2 versus 15.7 days, P = 0.05). Study power was insufficient to reliably compare the effects of the intervention on lengths of index hospital stay between groups.

CONCLUSIONS:
A targeted care bundle delivered to high-risk elderly inpatients decreased unplanned acute health care utilization up to 30 days following discharge. Dissipation of this effect by 60 days postdischarge defines reasonable expectations for analogous hospital-based educational interventions. Further research is needed regarding the impacts of similar care bundles in larger populations across a variety of inpatient settings. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2009;4:211–218. © 2009 Society of Hospital Medicine.

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Reduction of 30‐day postdischarge hospital readmission or emergency department (ED) visit rates in high‐risk elderly medical patients through delivery of a targeted care bundle

Liz Youngblood

Papers

Reduction of 30‐day postdischarge hospital readmission or emergency department (ED) visit rates in high‐risk elderly medical patients through delivery of a targeted care bundle

System engineering approach to documentation