Re-admission to the hospital within 30 days of discharge occurs in more than 20 percent of the cases, particularly for elderly patients with chronic diseases such as COPD, depression and heart failure.
During hospitalization, the patient’s condition is treated and medications are adjusted with the goal of getting the patient well enough for discharge, often without addressing the factors that caused the admission.
The patient receives limited education about self-care after discharge that could prevent further hospitalizations. The patient is discharged with prescriptions for medications that may differ from the medications they were given during the hospital stay and differ from the medications they used prior to the hospital admission.
There may not be a formal hand-off to the patient’s care providers, if any, or coordination to determine whether or not compliance with the hospital’s recommended treatment regimen is even possible at home. The patient may or may not visit their primary care physician for a post-discharge appointment, and there is typically no follow-up by the hospital. When subsequent problems arise, a trip to the Emergency Room is the typical solution.
If your loved one is currently hospitalized or was recently discharged, a Geriatric Care Manager could help avoid readmission.
To learn more about Geriatric Care Managers, visit www.NSSeniorCare.com
Many people are at the end stage of life and they deteriorate for a variety of reasons requiring readmission. It's not the lack of care or follow-up care. Many times it's unavoidable and sometimes due to poor compliance on the part of the patient. This seems like another layer of bureaucracy to add to the cost of caring for the elderly or chronically ill.