Many Americans are wondering if health care reform will be enough to offset the massive financial burdens that have plagued the nation’s health care system for the past few decades. Preventative medicine would ideally keep people out of hospitals, but the sad truth is that Americans on Medicare are re-entering hospitals nearly as easily as they’re discharged. After just 30 days, says a 2009 New England Journal of Medicine study, about 20 percent of patients are ready to go back to the hospital for the same problem that previously required they be admitted. After 90 days, that percentage increases to one-third. Startlingly, after one year, two-thirds are either readmitted or they die.
The re-admission of patients is inefficient and costly
Medicare cost America $17.4 billion in 2004, writes the Huffington Post. That money black hole forced Medicare to begin paying closer attention to which hospitals had the highest bounce-back rate of re-admission. Those with high re-admit rates are financially penalized. The waste even spawned a new industry where private corporations would analyze those hospitals in need of change. As various studies show that 75 percent of re-admissions are preventable, there appear to be many avenues through which hospitals could enact improvements in patient care.
Playing the blame game
Lack of proper communication is apparently the common ingredient when it comes to hospitals and skilled nursing facilities providing sub-par care that leads to re-admission. Not providing enough patient and medication info, neglecting follow-up appointments and providing confusing or contradictory patient care instructions are just some of the major troubles America’s health care system faces, writes the Post. Older patients on Medicaid who are passed back and forth between care facilities tend to be one of the most vulnerable victims caught within the crossfire.
Medicare and private insurance work with blinders on
The Huffington Post cites an American Geriatric Society study that shows that Medicare and private insurance businesses are “pushing very hard” to have stroke rehab patients admitted to skilled nursing facilities instead of inpatient rehab centers. Lower initial cost is the reason, but what the insurers fail to see is the significance of a re-admit rate that is seven times higher in the skilled nursing option. Couple the obvious cost difference with the proven statistical fact that patients who enter inpatient rehab facilities after a stroke are three times more likely to return home after care and the lack of vision on the part of Medicare and private insurance becomes particularly disturbing.
Get the answers you need
Medical care facilities will usher patients out as easily as possible unless patients and their loved ones force them to slow down and answer questions. This is why it is vitally important that patients (Medicare or otherwise) and their loved ones question doctors regarding the risk of re-admission, and to make sure they understand the necessary care going forward. For more info on specific questions, see the Huffington Post article listed below.
Additional reading
Huffington Post
huffingtonpost.com/richard-c-senelick-md/the-bounce-back-effect-ho_b_677575.html
