30-DAY READMISSION
A Lousy Quality Metric in HF?
What works great for ACS seems to be failing miserably as a quality metric in the setting of heart failure (HF). Thirty-day readmit numbers have been driven down in recent years for patients treated for acute MI; the comparable numbers for HF, meanwhile, seem largely mired in the muck.
Given that hospitalization costs are responsible for the majority of the $39 billion spent annually by Medicare for patients with HF, it’s no surprise that early rehospitalization rates have become a focal point for quality improvement and cost reduction attempts in the setting of HF, too. Over the last several years, the Centers for Medi-
care & Medicaid Services (CMS) have undertaken several initiatives to reduce readmissions among the Medicare fee-for-service population. These include: • reporting hospital readmission rates through Hospital Compare • funding hospital-level improvements through the Partnership for Patients program • changing payment policies through the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program • various shared savings initiatives In turn, many hospitals and other organizations have employed strategies to reduce readmissions, such as enhanced patient education, more post-discharge follow-up care, and increased coordination
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8/19/13 5:18 PM