A proper handoff should be done in a way that helps the patient and the physician providing the follow-up care. “But you won’t know what that is unless you ask the people you’re sending patients to how you’re doing,” she explains. “When we routinely review readmitted patients in cross-setting groups, it quickly breaks down the mindset that we in the hospital did everything we could have done to make the discharge successful.”
Dr. Boutwell recommends that hospitalists avoid thinking of these issues in a vacuum, as medical-clinical issues that only doctors can fix. “Because you can’t,” she says. “I would never ask an individual hospitalist to reduce readmissions. It requires a multidisciplinary, all-hands-on-deck approach by the hospital. This is different and more exciting than other quality-improvement efforts.” What’s more, she says, the day is coming—and soon—when failing to manage these readmissions will be a bad business proposition for the hospital (see “Value-Based Purchasing Raises the Stakes,” May 2011, p. 1).
IHI’s STAAR Initiative is working with coalitions of providers in Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington. One of those coalitions, Detroit CARR (Community Action to Reduce Rehospitalizations), convened by MPRO, a Michigan-based quality-improvement organization, is a great example of a cross-continuum team involving five inner-city hospitals, Dr. Boutwell says.
“CARR has really dug deeply into the needs of vulnerable patients in one of America’s most economically challenged communities, with a high proportion of Medicaid, uninsured, and disabled patients” and a shrinking population, she says. Many rehospitalizations are related to socio-economics. “The CARR coalition is meeting with the homeless shelters, the food pantries, and the faith-based agencies,” she says. “They’re really getting at the root of significant issues in their community.”
Nancy Vecchioni, RN, MSN, CPHQ, vice present of Medicare operations at MPRO, says CARR involves more than just healthcare providers; it also brings community agencies together with them to take ownership of the patient. Organizations that a year ago weren’t talking to each other are now meeting regularly to focus on the most vulnerable patients, reviewing cases of rehospitalized homeless patients, and sharing their experiences. Rehospitalized patients are being interviewed, using a prepared script (see Figure 1, p. 34), which allows the patient to tell their story. The information is shared within the coalition.
Each hospital has its own transition team, with post-acute providers, physicians, home health agencies, and community service providers, Vecchioni says. For patients who can’t get in to see a PCP within five days of discharge, some hospitals are opening continuity clinics. Others give patients three- to 30-day supplies of needed medications. “There’s no magic bullet—it’s just a different way of looking at how we do this work,” she adds. “Every day we see new barriers. But we’ve already seen a 5% overall reduction in readmissions. And I think hospitalists can be the champions and leaders of these efforts.”
Hospitalists have to raise the bar for themselves, Dr. Schneidermann says, “doing our best while recognizing we can only do so much. There is a lot we can learn from geriatrics, starting with truly embracing the multidisciplinary team.” If hospitalists feel like they are functioning in isolation, she says, they need to look around. “Are these kinds of interdisciplinary meetings happening? If so, join them. If not, light a fire. Convert your frustrating experiences with patients into action.” TH
Larry Beresford is a freelance medical writer based in California.
