The findings of a new study published this week in BMJ Quality & Safety show the first evidence that electronic health records can play a role in reducing hospital readmissions of high-risk heart failure patients.
The study evaluated more than 1,700 adult inpatients diagnosed with heart failure, myocardial infarction and pneumonia over a two-year period at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. With the use of software developed to assess the patients on a daily basis at highest risk, researchers were able reduce the readmission rate of those studied by 26%.
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Should hospitals focus on the specific diseases that lead to the most readmissions, or should they look at internal issues that may be driving their overall readmission rates higher? It's a crucial question as hospital leaders search for ways to improve outcomes and avoid rising Medicare penalties for high readmission rates.
A new study suggests a disease-based focus on heart failure readmissions—one of the biggest drivers of high readmission rates—returns modest benefits at best.
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