Although the problem of readmissions has been addressed by numerous policies and programs, there is still a persisting need in finding a universal solution. Even after the Hospital, Readmission Reduction program was introduced to penalize health care units with excessive readmissions, no considerable reduction in rehospitalization rates was achieved (Hunter & Birmingham, 2013). Medicare alone spends more than $15 billion annually on readmission cases, which implies that either the quality of care is too low or there is no follow-up provided to risk groups (Postel et al., 2014).
Especially surprising in this situation is that, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, three-quarters of readmissions could be prevented, even taking into account the fact that their causes may vary considerably (Hunter & Birmingham, 2013). This implies that the problem can and must be addressed since the penalties caused by readmissions result in higher turnover rates, lack of financial resources, and general dissatisfaction of the staff and patients.
I believe that the major challenge that nurses have to deal with is the lack of patient education. If patients are provided with sufficient information for self-care, they will be able to handle the majority of complications leading to readmission.
Question: Is it possible to prevent readmissions with discharge education?
- P (Population): Medicare patients;
- I (Intervention): Discharge education;
- C (Comparison): No education provided upon discharge;
- O (Outcome): To find out whether discharge education is capable of reducing readmission rates.
Keywords for searching: readmission, discharge education, prevention methods, penalties for excessive readmissions.
Criteria: Articles within a period of 5 years.
Source: Polster, D. (2015). Preventing readmissions with discharge education. Nursing management, 46(10), 30-37.
The article selected for discussion is “Preventing readmissions with discharge education”. It was chosen since it provides arguments to support my viewpoint that readmissions could be considerably reduced if more attention is paid to discharge education. Furthermore, the author also develops useful guidelines for assessment that would allow selecting the most suitable education technique (Polster, 2015).
References
Hunter, T., & Birmingham, J. (2013). Preventing readmissions through comprehensive discharge planning. Professional Case Management, 18(2), 56-63.
Polster, D. (2015). Preventing readmissions with discharge education. Nursing Management, 46(10), 30-37.
Postel, M., Frank, P. N., Barry, T., Satou, N., Shemin, R., & Benharash, P. (2014). The cost of preventing readmissions: Why surgeons should lead the effort. The American Surgeon, 80(10), 1003-1006.