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Many Medicare Patients Leave Hospital, Then Quickly Return

Readmissions cost US billions a year

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 2, 2009 7:30 AM CDT
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(Newser) – One-third of all Medicare patients hospitalized each year are readmitted within 90 days of being discharged, costing taxpayers billions of dollars annually, a new study found. Meanwhile, half of patients who went back in the first month after treatment had not seen a doctor in the interim. "Given the current financial situation, this is no longer something we can ignore," one health researcher told the New York Times.

Readmissions could be cut considerably with better follow-up care, according to the report in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Obama administration has already identified lowering readmissions as a cost-cutting measure. Some institutions have taken the lead: At one hospital in Pennsylvania, doctors who educated their patients on what to expect after surgery saw readmission rates drop by 20%.

Martin Luther King Jr. Harbor Hospital is shown Tuesday July 24, 2007, in Los Angeles.
Martin Luther King Jr. Harbor Hospital is shown Tuesday July 24, 2007, in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Readmissions after medical care cost the United States billions of dollars a year, according to a new study.
Readmissions after medical care cost the United States billions of dollars a year, according to a new study.   (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Readmissions after medical care cost the United States billions of dollars a year, according to a new study.
Readmissions after medical care cost the United States billions of dollars a year, according to a new study.   (©salimfadhley)
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When you get out of the hospital, you need to have an active interaction with the health system. The patient has to be seen. - Public-health specialist Anne-Marie J. Audet

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
justme
Apr 2, 2009 7:24 AM CDT
GOP budget? Remember that the Dems have been in charge of Congress for over 2 years. Hate it when all problems have to be defined by party.
wwwonderer
Apr 2, 2009 4:54 AM CDT
Yeah, luckily that GOP budget has cut services for the poor and the elderly. That ought to fly well.
Doctor-Zaius
Apr 2, 2009 4:50 AM CDT
Are you trying to tell me that my medical decisions are being made by a bureaucrat???

Full text of the article
New England Journal of Medicine

US • Health

 
health care • health care costs • New England Journal of Medicine • budget • hospital • health care reform • hospitalization

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