Essay On 30 Day Readmissions

Introduction
It is very important that hospital adheres to the guidelines that stipulated that if patients return to the hospital for after being treated for 30 days there be a penalty of some sort. This guideline came about after the implementation of the affordable care in 2010. Before the implementation of the affordable care act, there were over 20% of readmission to the hospitals 30 days after being discharged (Rice, 2015). These penalties can prove to be very costly, as a result, hospitals are very dissatisfied the way it is being dealt with. This paper will address the financial impact of patient 30-day readmissions and steps that hospital are taking to reduce readmissions. Financial Impact of 30 Days Readmission It is important to …show more content…
Moreover, hospitals are now calling patients at home after being discharged to ensure that they understand the discharge planning and instructions and to answer any questions they might have or concerns regarding their discharge. They are also calling to ensure that they understand the medication regiment and all the instructions that come with it. It is also important to understand that hospitals are ensuring patients are being followed up with home care nurses and sometimes physicians to ensure that they are following all the discharge instructions and to take care of any medical needs they might have such as dressing change, taking their vitals and ensure that they are following their discharge instructions. The hospitals are doing this so as to prevent them from being penalized for patients returning to the hospital for readmission after 30 days (ACEP, 2015). It is important to know that as a result of the penalties that hospitals are faced with, they have now implemented a plan or policy whereby to allow physicians to be made aware of their patients being discharged, and to follow up with patients on lab work and diagnostic testing and to ensure