Thought Leadership in Action

As the medical reimbursement model has changed, readmissions play a bigger role in a health care system’s bottom line. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicare penalties assessed on hospitals for readmissions are expected to increase by about 25 percent to $528 million this year. And as health care organizations face pressure to focus on outcomes, reducing readmission rates has emerged as an important factor.

“Readmissions can cost a hospital millions in any given year,” says Stephanie Sargent, vice president of product development and quality at SE Healthcare Quality Consulting, a consulting firm based in Charleston, South Carolina. “When you have a margin of 1 percent, that can make the difference between a good year and a bad year.”

Here are some ways to boost patient engagement to help reduce readmissions.

Build a Partnership

The model for providing care has changed, Sargent says. “From the patient’s perspective, medicine has traditionally been very paternalistic,” she says. But more health care organizations are taking a “partnership” approach, encouraging patients to be more active participants in their care.

To build that partnership, look for ways to engage patients throughout the time they’re with you, Sargent says. This may include collaborative teaching approaches such as taking the time to understand how “health literate” they are and what kinds of sources they’re using for information, for example. Sargent also recommends using “teach-back” methods that encourage the patient to describe their discharge care in their own words, and by talking about after-care information on the day of admission, not right before they walk out the door.

“With the switch to Value Based Care, it is more important now than ever to engage with and educate patients. The benefits education provides are two-fold; living a healthy lifestyle after a diagnosis and preventing a future diagnosis. Having quality education easily accessible works to improve the patient experience and drives adherence to quality measures," says Jordan Thurmond, Director of Enterprise Solution, Consultant Team for Ebix, Inc.

Provide Support

While readmissions can cut into margins, reducing readmissions is expensive, says Rick Hammer, CEO of SE Healthcare Quality Consulting. Marshaling the kind of support that physicians and other providers need to reduce readmissions can be difficult, so it’s vital that organizational leaders understand they may need to reallocate resources or provide more support in some areas.

Sargent says this may mean ensuring physicians have more time to talk with patients, rather than relying on high volumes. “They just don’t have the time to do the education and teaching they should be doing,” she says. “So much responsibility to support physicians rests in the systems.” To that end, physicians should be encouraged to allow their extenders to practice to the top of their licenses, she says, or organizations should consider bringing on more staff.

Put Tech to Work

As part of the effort to reduce readmissions, technology can help providers give standardized, useful information and patients stay compliant. “Utilizing digital medicine enables physicians to extend patient engagement and care beyond the office visit,” says Ed Berde, CEO and co-founder of Responsive Health, a digital medicine platform based in New York City. Medical apps, wearable devices and patient education tools can help patients be in direct control of their health care and be more educated about their concerns.

In addition, platforms that engage patients and providers at discharge can help them interact and get all the questions answered. The key is finding platforms that are easy and intuitive to use and can demonstrate effectiveness over time. For example, physicians need to be able to determine whether patients are adhering to after-care treatments, Berde says.