More nurses prevent more readmissions

With all the focus on soon-to-be-implemented penalties for 30-day hospital readmissions, it’s no surprise that healthcare organizations are employing a range of initiatives to address the problem.

A study published in Health Affairs found that hospitals with higher nurse staffing had 25 percent lower odds of being penalized for hospital readmissions within 30 days compared to otherwise similar hospitals with lower staffing.

Inadequate nursing hinders efforts to carry out evidence-based interventions, such as discharge preparation, care coordination and patient education, which “are grounded in the fundamentals of basic nursing care,” wrote lead author Matthew D. McHugh, associate professor of nursing at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania.

McHugh and his team analyzed data from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) for fiscal year 2013 to identify HRRP penalties at 2,976 adult, non-federal and acute care hospitals (Maryland is excluded). The study sample was limited to hospitals with at least 25 cases of heart failure, acute myocardial infarction or pneumonia between July 1, 2008, and June 31, 2011.

“Among a national sample of hospitals, we found that even after closely matching on hospital and patient population characteristics, hospitals with better registered nurse staffing levels were significantly less likely to be penalized under the CMS HRRP than otherwise similar hospitals that were less well staffed,” McHugh et al wrote. Concurrently, the researchers found that a greater proportion of patients in better-staffed hospitals rated their hospital highly and would recommend it to friends and family.

We're sure to hear a lot more going forward about how hospitals are working to reduce their 30-day readmissions. What is your facility doing to address the problem? Please share your experience.

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor