Reducing readmissions hasn’t increased post-discharge mortality
Researchers found no evidence that efforts to drop hospital readmissions rates have increased the risk of recently discharged patients dying—in fact, those efforts seem to have reduced post-hospitalization mortality.
The study, published in JAMA, was summarized in a NPR article by study authors Yale School of Medicine professors Kumar Dharmarajan, MD, MBA, and Harlan Krumholz, MD.
“These better outcomes came about not from new medicines or devices, but from a willingness of hospitals and health care professionals to engage with patients and families to promote truly patient-centered, high-quality care,” they wrote. “The idea was to stop focusing on the venue of care and instead recognize the journeys patients are on, and also to stop paying for bad outcomes and instead reward improvements in care. Finally, there was a need recognize that we in health care were not doing as well as we could.”
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.