Hospital stays often disrupt our lives. Sudden or major ailments, injuries, or health events can take us by complete surprise and wrench us out of our normal routines. These events leave us so rattled that by the time we or our loved one is discharged we are so grateful and we just want things to go back to “normal.”
However, as it is with many hospital stays, discharge does not always mean healing. These days, weeks, and sometimes even months post-discharge are spent at home and finishing the recovery process. It is a very high-risk period and specifically for seniors, it can present a significant challenge. Discharged patients often need both medical and non-medical care to get through this period without rehospitalization.
Many post-discharge issues need to be addressed. Medical professionals can help you and your loved ones understand your hospital test results, medications, what self-care things you need to be focused on, and can even be the ones who perform your follow-up appointments.
Landmark Health Writes about Readmission Cost to Society
Landmark Health addresses the readmission cost to society, stating that “Clinicians have mostly been invested and interested in reducing the hospital readmissions for improving patient care. But the problems have moved under the spotlight due to economic factors. The ability to prevent readmission rates through a timely procedure and attentive healthcare delivery services. The healthcare cost is still on the rise, incentivizing systems are looking to find innovative ways to offer better care delivery. The need to reduce the national cost for readmission has caused a lot of interest in strengthening the healthcare coordination continuum.”
High Readmission Numbers & Their Reasons
In 2018, there were a total of 3.8 million adult hospital readmissions within 30 days, with an average readmission rate of 14 percent and an average readmission cost of $15,200 according to the US Government’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality or AHRQ. The senior citizen population alone accounted for over 55% of all hospital readmissions.
Readmission to the hospital is necessary due to recurrence of the original ailment but can also be due to a secondary or related condition. Below is a chart of the most common diagnoses that cause hospital readmission.
Dr. Leah Horwitz writes in “Post-discharge self-management can be conceptualized as a three-legged stool comprised of knowledge, planning, and ability. The patient needs to know what to do (for instance, take a medication three times a day). The patient also needs to have a plan for how to do it”
When a person can’t create a plan to manage their care is where things get more complicated. Post-discharge house calls become tremendously important during this time. A medical professional can help you or your loved one find the right way forward and fill in any gaps in knowledge that may exist around your ailment, medication, or therapies.
Readmission is not something any of us want, not for ourselves, and not for our loved ones. Finding ways to keep out of the hospital after a stay but while still recovering at an optimal level is what House Calls post-discharge aims to do.
Wrapping up
While the cost of readmissions has caught the attention of patients and providers, house calls services are helping healthcare organizations and facilities with enhancing their care delivery services. House calls solutions are helping the care coordination continuum to keep growing and boosting transition to care services. It is important to understand that creating a patient-centric approach when providing care delivery services maximizes house calls output into offering overall better health outcomes. Thus, house calls solutions are necessary post-discharge from hospital settings to a smooth transition to care delivery services at the comfort of patients’ homes.
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