LONG BEACH, CALIF. — Disease-specific tools for management of the most common reasons that patients move back and forth between such facilities and hospitals reduced short-term rehospitalizations among 3,255 residents of 10 skilled nursing facilities, according to the company that developed the tools.
The automated “care guides” to skilled nursing facility (SNF) management of patients reduced rehospitalizations within 30 days of discharge from 24% before the study to 14% over a year's time. However, rates of rehospitalization more than 30 days after discharge increased from 4% to 6%, Dr. Thomas Riemenschneider and his associates reported in a poster at the annual meeting of the American Medical Directors Association (AMDA).
The guides focus on disease management, standardized nursing processes, outcomes measurement, and performance improvement to stabilize recently hospitalized residents. Most SNF residents who bounce back to hospitals within 30 days of discharge do so multiple times, noted Dr. Riemenschneider, chief medical officer of the company that developed and is marketing the management tools, Clinical Outcomes Management Solutions (COMS) Interactive, Hudson, Ohio.
Avoiding rehospitalization was better for patients, who were less likely to die by the end of the study (3%) than before (6%), he reported.
For each hospitalization avoided, an SNF gained an average $4,000 in reimbursements for a longer resident stay.
More information about the care guides can be found on the company's Web site, www.comsllc.com
Dr. Riemenschneider and his associates in the study hold stock in COMS Interactive.
To view a video interview of Dr. Riemenschneider, go to youtube.com/ElsGlobalMedicalNews