Reducing readmission rates through a discharge follow-up service
Vernon, Duncan Brown, James E. Griffiths, Eliza Nevill, Alan M. Pinkney, Martha
Vernon, Duncan
Brown, James E.
Griffiths, Eliza
Nevill, Alan M.
Pinkney, Martha
Abstract
Approximately 15% of elderly patients are readmitted within 28 days of discharge. This costs the NHS and patients. Previous studies show telephone contact with patients -post-discharge can reduce readmission rates. This service -evaluation used a cohort design and compared 30-day emergency readmission rate in patients identified to receive a community nurse follow-up with patients where no attempt was made. 756 patients across seven hospital wards were -identified; 303 were identified for the intervention and 453 in a -comparison group. Hospital admission and readmission data was extracted over 6 months. Where an attempt to contact a patient was made post-discharge, the readmission rate was 9.24% compared to 15.67% where no attempt to -contact was made (p=0.011). After adjustment for -confounding using logistic regression, there was evidence of reduced readmissions in the 'attempt to contact' group odds ratio = 1.93 (95% c-onfidence interval = 1.06-3.52, p=0.033). Of the patients who community nurses attempted to contact, 288 were contacted, and 202 received a home visit with general practitioner -referral and medications advice being the most common -interventions initiated. This service evaluation shows that a simple intervention where community nurses attempt to contact and visit geriatric patients after discharge causes a significant reduction in 30-day hospital readmissions.
Keywords: Discharge; geriatrics; readmission; telephone contract.
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Date
2019-06
Type
Article
Subject
Health services. Management, Elderly care.
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Citation
Vernon D, Brown JE, Griffiths E, Nevill AM, Pinkney M. Reducing readmission rates through a discharge follow-up service. Future Healthc J. 2019 Jun;6(2):114-117. doi: 10.7861/futurehosp.6-2-114.
Journal / Source Title
Future Healthcare Journal
DOI
10.7861/futurehosp.6-2-114
PMID
31363517
Publisher
Royal College of Physicians
Publisher’s URL
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc6616175/