30 Day Readmission Rate Essay

In 2012, hospitals across the country were measured for the readmission rate of patient from variety of diseases such as acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, pneumonia, obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary bypass graft (CABG) surgery, and elective total hip or knee replacement. Many programs were enforced to reduce the readmission rate by focus on better coordination of care, improve communication between providers, patients, and their caregivers. According to Zuckerman, a new study by the Department of Health and Human Services shows that the readmission rate of hospitals around the country fell sharply following enactment of the Affordable Care Act. Therefore, to maintain quality services to their patients, the primary focus at Holy Cross Hospital is to reduce the 30-day readmission rate. In 2015, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid recommended a 3% reduction in readmission rate from national average of 15.7% for 2014 fiscal year for hospitals that showed excess level of …show more content…
Based on this recommendation, Holy Cross Hospital set a target goal of 5% lower than national average of 30-day readmission rate. From April 2010 to June 2013, Holy Cross Hospital discharged a total of 111,135 patients. Of this, a total of 8,596 (7.73%) patients were readmitted within 30 days with 43.1% of readmitted patient are Medicare recipients. Further assessments identified the top 5 conditions for these readmitted patients are pneumonia, asthma, urinary tract infection, congestive heart failure, and lower-extremity amputation due to diabetes. Data for fiscal year 2015 is currently unavailable for assessment (Holy Cross Hospital, 2015). However, based on previous data, Holy Cross Hospital is well below the national