Reducing hospital readmissions is critical to the success and sustainability of both hospitals and the communities in which they reside. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore organizational strategies hospital leaders use to reduce hospital readmissions. The study was limited to hospitals in Southwest Missouri with readmission rates below the state average. Complex adaptive systems was the conceptual framework for the study because of the complex nature and numerous stakeholders of the healthcare system. Data were collected from a purposive sample of 15 hospital leaders via semistructured interviews and an analysis of organizational artifacts. Member checking was used to increase reliability and validity of the results. Data analysis was conducted using Yin's 5 step process including qualitative analysis software to identify major and core themes. The major themes identified in the study included population health, hospital operations and patient interactions, leadership and mission, and barriers to reducing readmissions. The implications for positive social change include the potential to improve services hospital team members provide to patients, which may improve the overall health of the communities they serve. By promoting improved health outcomes for local communities, society benefits through reduction of costs to the federal government and an overall improvement in the health of communities.

Every year, thousands of congestive heart failure (CHF) patients are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. There is a gap in practice in the care continuum of patients with CHF within the transition from hospital to home. One of the factors known to increase a patient's risk for readmission is the lack of patient engagement and self-efficacy regarding the treatment plan. The purpose of this project was to implement a transition of care practice guideline that consisted of the use of a risk identification tool, a customized care plan for patients at high risk for readmission, and a discharge checklist crafted specifically for CHF patients who are at risk for readmission. The practice initiative utilized the Iowa model of Evidence Based Practice as a framework and the teach-back method for discharge education. A sample of 193 patients admitted during a 1-month timeframe fit the inclusion criteria and was generated from the electronic health record. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected during implementation. In fact, of the 106 CHF patients who benefited from the CHF checklist only 2 required readmission within 30 days, a 1.8% 30 day readmission rate. As compared to the 22% readmission rate experienced in 2017, this represented a considerable improvement, albeit preliminary. Efforts to improve the lives of patients and their families will ultimately serve society well, making a significant contribution to positive social change. Providing comprehensive discharge education to patients using the teach-back method to assess the retention of knowledge will help close the gap in the transition of care between hospital and home, ultimately reducing CHF readmissions.

Abstract Objective: Readmission is a big part of health care expenditure and recent studies suggested that hospital readmissions can be applied as an important indicator of quality of care within health care system. Furthermore elderly population usually costs the large amount health care expenses and is the main group in readmission. Moreover readmission is usually attributed to chronic diseases. Nevertheless, evaluations of hospital readmissions under universal health care coverage areas were not well-studied in Taiwan. Therefore this study aims to explore the associations between initial hospitalizations and probability of hospital readmissions in details. Research method: Patients aged 65 or older with primary clinical diagnosis of asthma or COPD based on ICD-9-CM for hospital admissions and readmissions in Taiwan.National claims of these two diseases were collected and analyzed from year 2000 to 2004. Population-based descriptive analyses of related health care utilizations were estimated. Multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to predict the probability of hospital readmissions. Controlled variables included patient factors, medical institutions¡¦ characteristics, urbanizations, and air quality indicators. Result: Among asthma and COPD elderly patients, more health care utilizations were observed in the hospital readmissions than initial admissions. Multivariate logistic regressions indicated that age, gender, disease severity, hospital characteristics, and air quality were significant predictors of the probability of hospital readmission. Meanwhile, age, disease severity, and hospital characteristics also significantly affected the time interval between initial admission and readmission. In addition, longer length of stay in the initial admission will significantly shorten the time interval between initial admission and readmission (P<0.001). Conclusion: For Asthma and COPD elderly patients, longer length of stay in the initial admission will significantly shorten the time interval between initial admission and readmission and have higher probability of hospital readmission. This study provides the evidence of reducing the health care expenditure by controlling readmission rate. With more understandings of factors affecting hospital readmissions, we can improve the health care delivery and reduce unplanned readmissions in the future. Key words: Asthma, COPD, hospital readmission, health care utilization, length of stay, admission fees

In the United States, the health care sector is 20 years behind in the use of information technology to improve the process of health care delivery as compared to other sectors. Patients have to deliver their data over and over again to every health professional they see. Most health care facilities act as data repositories with limited capabilities of data analysis or data exchange. A remaining challenge is, how do we encourage the use of IT in the health care sector that will improve care coordination, save lives, make patients more involved in decision-making, and save money for the American people? According to Healthy People 2020, several challenges such as making health IT more usable, helping users to adapt to the new uses of health IT, and monitoring the impact of health IT on health care quality, safety, and efficiency, will require multidisciplinary models, new data systems, and abundant research. In this dissertation, I developed and used systems engineering methods to understand the role of new health IT in improving the coordination, safety, and efficiency of health care delivery. It is well known that care coordination issues may result in preventable hospital readmissions. In this dissertation, I identified the status of the care coordination and hospital readmission issues in the United States, and the potential areas where systems engineering would make significant contributions (see Appendix B). This literature review introduced me to a second study (see Appendix C), in which I identified specific patient cohorts, within chronically ill patients, that are at a higher risk of being readmitted within 30 days. Important to note is that the largest volume of preventable hospital readmissions occurs among chronically ill patients. This study was a retrospective data analysis of a representative patient cohort from Tampa, Florida, based on multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models. After finishing these two studies, I directed my research efforts to understand and generate evidence on the role of new health IT (i.e., health information exchange, HIE) in improving care coordination, and thereby reducing the chances of a patient to be unnecessarily readmitted to the hospital. HIE is the electronic exchange of patient data among different stakeholders in the health care industry. The exchange of patient data is achieved, for example, by connecting electronic medical records systems between unaffiliated health care providers. It is expected that HIE will allow physicians, nurses, pharmacists, other health care providers and patients to appropriately access and securely share a patient’s vital medical information electronically, and thereby improving the speed, quality, safety and cost of patient care. The federal government, through the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, is actively stimulating health care providers to engage in HIE, so that they can freely exchange patient information. Although these networks of information exchange are the promise of a less fragmented and more efficient health care system, there are only a few functional and financially sustainable HIEs across the United States. Current evidence suggests four barriers for HIE: •Usability and interface issues of HIE systems •Privacy and security concerns of patient data •Lack of sustainable business models for HIE organizations •Loss of strategic advantage of "owning" patient information by joining HIE to freely share data To contribute in reducing usability and interface issues of HIE systems, I performed a user needs assessment for the internal medicine department of Tampa General Hospital in Tampa, Florida. I used qualitative research tools (see Appendix D) and machine learning techniques (see Appendix E) to answer the following fundamental questions: How do clinicians integrate patient information allocated in outside health care facilities? What are the types of information needed the most for efficient and effective medical decision-making? Additionally, I built a strategic gaming model (see Appendix F) to analyze the strategic role of "owning" patient information that health care providers lose by joining an HIE. Using bilevel mathematical programs, I mimic the hospital decision of joining HIE and the patient decision of switching from one hospital to another one. The fundamental questions I tried to answer were: What is the role of competition in the decision of whether or not hospitals will engage in HIE? Our mathematical framework can also be used by policy makers to answer the following question: What are the optimal levels of monetary incentives that will spur HIE engagement in a specific region? Answering these fundamental questions will support both the development of user-friendly HIE systems and the creation of more effective health IT policy to promote and generate HIE engagement. Through the development of these five studies, I demonstrated how systems engineering tools can be used by policy makers and health care providers to make health IT more useful, and to monitor and support the impact of health IT on health care quality, safety, and efficiency.

Introduction: Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) is responsible for raising admissions numbers and hospital readings. Patients are associated with increased costs to the patient and the health system, as well as access to hospital mortality rates. Objective: To investigate rehospitalization factors in patients with ACS. Methodology: This is a retrospective study of patients of both sexes, adults and elderly, diagnosed with ACS. The records of health and health cases were evaluated in relation to cardiology, the occurrence of rehospitalization, the time between admissions and the use of medications at the time of rehospitalization, up to one year after admission for ACS. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the predictive variables of rehospitalization. Results: The occurrence of readmissions was 21.46% (n = 115) and the mean period between hospitalizations was 122.74 (SD 112.14) days. Most patients were male (64.0%), mean age was 63.15 years (SD 12.26) years, 7% had readmission and 68.7% had more than one readmission in 01 year. The cardiovascular causes, among them, the recurrence of ACS, were the most prevalent among hospital readmissions. Public utility (OR 0.46) and the diagnosis of CHF (OR 1.81) were associated with reintroduction following multiple logistic regression. Conclusion: As the rehospitalizations are therapeutic and they return to help health professionals and are associated with the recurrence of the ACS event and the type of care. / Introdução: A Síndrome Coronariana Aguda (SCA) é responsável por elevados números de admissões e readmissões hospitalares. Esses números estão associados ao aumento dos custos para o paciente e para o sistema de saúde, bem como à elevação nas taxas de mortalidade hospitalar. Objetivo: Investigar os determinantes de reinternação entre pacientes com SCA. Metodologia: Trata-se de uma coorte retrospectiva de pacientes de ambos os sexos, adultos e idosos, diagnosticados com SCA. Foram avaliados, a partir dos registros dos hospitais locais públicos e privados de referência em cardiologia, a ocorrência de reinternação, em até 01 ano após a internação por SCA, o tempo entre as admissões e uso de medicamentos no momento da reinternação. Regressão logística múltipla foi utilizada para avaliar as variáveis preditoras da reinternação. Resultados: A ocorrência de reinternações foi de 21,46% (n=115) e o período médio entre as internações foi de 122,74 (DP 112,14) dias. Os pacientes avaliados eram, em sua maioria, do sexo masculino (64,0%), com média de idade de 63,15 (DP 12,26) anos, 7% apresentaram óbito na reinternação e 68,7% apresentaram mais de uma reinternação em 01 ano. As causas cardiovasculares, entre elas a recorrência da SCA, foram as mais prevalente entre as reinternações hospitalares. A assistência pública (OR 0,46) e o diagnóstico de ICC (OR 1,81) tiveram associados às reintrenação após a regressão logística múltipla. Conclusão: As reinternações são reflexo das condições clínicas do paciente e ao acesso do paciente aos serviços de saúde e estão associadas a recorrência do evento de SCA e o tipo de assistência. / Aracaju

Heart failure (HF) is a serious, life limiting chronic illness and is the most common cause of <30-day hospital readmission, which is costly both in its profound negative impact on patient mortality and quality of life, and in economics. Limited access to care in rural communities increases the prevalence of hospitalizations for heart disease in rural areas. The aims of this project using data mined from Arizona Health Sciences Center Clinical Research Data Warehouse, are to define clinical events (fever, pain, changes in respiratory status, change in level of consciousness, changes in output, bleeding, and suicide ideation) for patients with heart failure, and determine what assessment values are for chronically ill patients and compare to "normal" assessment values for non-chronically ill patients. A literature review was completed to determine how to define clinical events for chronically ill patients with HF, and how decision making is used at home to manage chronic illness. Assessment value data was mined from the clinical research data warehouse and compared to “normal” assessment values, with identification of associations between clinical events and action taken in the hospital. The project results support that there are differences in "normal" assessment values for fever, pain, and change in respiratory status between chronically ill patients with HF, and non-chronically ill patients; there was insufficient data to define bleeding, change in output, or suicide ideation. Impacts to care include earlier recognition of worsening HF symptoms that could result in an earlier call or visit to primary care provider forestalling the need for emergent care and hospital readmission. Application of the mined clinical may inform development of evidenced-based algorithm to guide decision-making at home, and it may also provide the foundation for the development of a tool for patient use to prevent <30-day hospital readmission.

Inadequate discharge planning for individuals with chronic illnesses or injuries is associated with increased readmissions to the hospital or rehabilitation facility where the original treatments were administered. To help ensure the recovery of discharged patients and avoid readmissions, discharge planners guide medication and care processes. The rate of readmissions was high in a stand-alone rehabilitation center due to ineffective discharge plans. Patients, family members, and caregivers lacked knowledge about medications, treatments, and self-care guidelines after the patient left the facility. The purpose of this project was to ascertain the impact of improved discharge processes using the (a) IDEAL Discharge Planning Overview, Process, and Checklist; (b) the teach-back Method training for discharge nurses; and (c) the Postdischarge Rehabilitation Services Follow-Up Tool incorporating telephone calls to all participants during Weeks 1, 2, and 4 postdischarge. Lewin's theory of planned change undergirded this project. According to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data, the rate of readmissions among the 50 participants was 4.4%, compared with 6% (all-facility readmission rate) during the same quarter of the prior year. Findings from this project suggest that reductions in readmissions were associated with improvements in discharge planning, training of caregivers, and the use of national tools to standardize practices in reducing readmissions. The implication of this project for positive social change is that patient-centered inpatient rehabilitation care and patient-centered care following discharge may reduce readmissions, reduce costs, improve reimbursement, and reduce deterioration of patients' conditions postdischarge.

Heart failure (HF) patients are among the populations with the highest rates of hospital readmission within 30 days of discharge. Because of the 2010 Health Care Reform legislation, healthcare organizations are subject to financial penalty when a patient population exhibits excess readmissions. A significant reason for readmission of HF patients is a gap in the transition of care from hospital to home. The purpose of this doctoral project was to develop a practice guideline of best practices for transitioning HF patients from hospital to home. The transitional care model and care transitions intervention provided the theoretical underpinnings for developing this project. The research question explored whether a transition-of-care guideline would reduce hospital readmission for the HF population. The methodology used to develop the clinical practice guideline was derived from a synthesis of scholarly literature and evidence-based transitional care quality initiatives. Seven interdisciplinary experts involved in HF transition of care used the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation II instrument (AGREE II) to assess the development of the practice guideline. The scores of 6 AGREE II domains were summed and scaled to obtain a percentage of the maximum possible score for each domain. Scores showed that the clinical practice guideline was rigorous, high quality, effective in improving transition of care, and has the potential to reduce HF readmission. Positive social changes resulting from this practice guideline include an improvement in patient outcomes, a reduction in readmission rates, and a reduction in the associated financial burden to the hospital.

During transitions of care, great opportunity exists for miscommunication, poor care coordination, adverse events, medication errors and unnecessary healthcare utilization costing billions of dollars annually. An Interprofessional Transitions of Care (IPTC) clinic was developed utilizing a Family Medicine team that included physicians, nurses, a clinical social worker, and a clinical pharmacist. The purpose of this study was to determine if utilization of an IPTC clinic prevented hospital readmission, and to identify factors that predict most benefit from an interprofessional approach to transitions of care. A retrospective chart review of 1,001 patients was completed. A treatment group (TG) of 501 patients were offered IPTC clinic appointments following hospital discharge. A control group (CG) of 500 patients were hospitalized and received traditional follow-up prior to development of the IPTC clinic. Traditional follow-up typically consisted of an automated appointment reminder and a physician office visit. Outcomes assessed included 30-day hospital readmission of TG versus CG, and whether patient characteristics predisposed specific patient groups to attend IPTC appointments or benefit more from IPTC participation. Compared with CG, patients who completed an IPTC appointment were 48% less likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days. Patients with congestive heart failure and cellulitis particularly benefited from IPTC. Telephone contact within two business days of discharge was the greatest predictor of patients attending an IPTC appointment. These results demonstrate that an interprofessional approach to transitions in care effectively addresses this high risk for error and high cost time in the continuum of care.

BACKGROUND: There has been an enormous rise in total joint arthroplasties (TJA) in the United States over the past several years. Researchers have documented the increase in healthcare costs associated with unplanned hospital readmissions among patients post-TJA, specifically total hip and total knee arthroplasties. Additionally, researchers have reported the burden that these costs place on the healthcare system, private payers and on patients and their caregivers. Social routines, quality of life and occupational functioning are often interrupted because of a patient’s unplanned hospital readmission after receiving a total hip or total knee arthroplasty. Investigators have identified the major causes of costly unexpected hospital readmissions among patients with a TJA; they include surgical site infections, blood clots, joint dislocations and periprosthetic fractures. The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process describes the practice of occupational therapy as promoting health, well-being, and engagement in meaningful occupation. Nonetheless, there is limited literature in the occupational therapy field directed towards reducing hospital readmissions among patients with a total hip or knee arthroplasty, thus suggesting an area that is well-positioned for intervention development and testing. PURPOSE: This Occupational Therapy Doctoral Project entitled Teaching Intervention to Reduce Readmissions-Post Surgery (TIRR-PS) is a proposed program for an acute care hospital setting which: (a) described the problem of hospital readmissions among patients with a total hip or total knee arthroplasty, (b) investigated evidence and best practices for imparting knowledge and/or teaching skills to hospital administrators, healthcare professionals, occupational therapy staff, patients, and caregivers, (c) proposed an intervention based on empirically supported strategies and theoretical frameworks, (d) recommended activities to include as part of the program evaluation, the funding plan and the dissemination plan to promote this multi-level, multi-component pilot program. TIRR-PS will aim to reduce unplanned 30-day hospital readmissions and their associated healthcare costs. Unplanned readmissions are in part caused by inadequate education of hospital administrators, occupational therapy staff, patients, and caregivers. The TIRR-PS program will raise awareness about how to address common medical complication risks and promote the support of hospital administration for the education and skill building activities directed towards healthcare professionals with an emphasis on occupational therapy. CONCLUSION: TIRR-PS was designed for an acute care setting to reduce hospital readmission rates, to reduce healthcare costs, to improve patient quality of life, and to reduce the societal burden of unplanned hospital care. TIRR-PS is an innovative program designed to be comprehensive and to impart knowledge and skills to all relevant professionals in an acute care setting with a particular emphasis on the contribution of the OT profession. TIRR-PS, once evaluated, will provide a standardized, systematic approach to reducing unexpected hospitalizations post-TJA and shows promise for contributing to routine orthopaedic rehabilitative practice in acute care hospitals. This in turn will not only reduce healthcare costs, but will improve the post-surgery quality of life for patients with a recent total hip or total knee arthroplasty.