Five potential care breakdowns and how to avoid them are detailed in this week’s Healthcare Business Weekly Update. Also profiled is a groundbreaking Baton Rouge pilot pairing a hospitalized patient with a health coach to prepare for post-discharge and getting great results — an 80 percent reduction in unnecessary readmissions. As Aetna’s national medical director for Medicare Dr. Randall Krakauer said during last week’s conference on Aligning Reimbursement to Readmissions, “If we can cut even a minority of these avoidable readmissions, the savings and cost is considerable and the quality issues are even greater.” Dr. Kraukauer describes Aetna’s focus on the post-discharge period in its care transitions program for Medicare beneficiaries.
Our November survey on readmission reduction strategies is now closed, but you can still request a free summary of the results when they are compiled later this month to learn how more than 100 healthcare companies are working to reduce avoidable readmissions.
