A program implemented at Binghamton Hospital (N.Y.) that employs social workers and community-based resources to keep newly discharged patients out of the hospital reduced hospital readmissions by roughly half.
Through the program, a social worker calls or visits a recently discharged patient to determine how that patient feels, ascertains whether or not the patient is following prescribed instructions and therapies and identifies barriers to patient health.
The study, which tracked 100 patients, found readmissions were reduced from 15 percent to 7 percent over a two-year time period.
The program was developed by researchers at
More Articles on Quality:
Better Staff Wellbeing Means Better Patient Care, Study Finds
'Never Events' on the Rise in Massaschusetts, Despite Controls
Study: Medicare Patients' Imaging Use Decreased by 17.2%