Obstacles to Implementation of Readmission Reduction Program - Essay Sample

Readmission of patients back to hospital facilities has posed as a great challenge to the transition of patients from ill health to full recovery. The current focus in the medical field is to reduce the number of patient readmission cases to the facility, the cost incurred in patient readmission is very high. It is important to note that upon readmission, the new patient may lack medical attention to their problems due overcrowding within the medical facility. In a bid to increase efficiency in operations, there is a need for the implementation of a readmission reduction program. Despite the efforts from Medical Service offices, there are obstacles that come in the way to slow down the implementation of the readmission reduction program. Hence it is important that we discuss these factors and ways of eliminating them in order to have a successful 30-day readmission reduction program (Bradley et al., 2013).

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Obstacles to Readmission Reduction Program

Lack of a shared medical information portal: Caregivers or medical service providers are not interconnected through a shared platform. Hence when patients move from one hospital to another, informational discrepancies arise. This satiation leads to doctors giving different prescriptions due to lack of information on patient progress and severity of the condition. In a big way, many patients end up receiving the same medication over and over again hence increasing chances of readmission.

Improper Medical Systems: Medical facilities using poorly designed and networked medical information systems usually face a lot of readmission cases. In the case of systems which type out incoherent medical prescriptions, patients end up being issued with the wrong drugs. Patient recovery is at risk as well as their life, in such a scenario patient readmission is expected within the 30 day period.

Multiple Re-hospitalization- In the implementation of a readmission program, there is need to look into patient behavior. Doctors have no control over how many times a patient would want to see a different physician. This problem has led to an increase in readmission due to inconsistencies in medical treatment, and hence no solution is ever found.

Reaction to Medication- How patients react to medication also contributes to readmission cases all across the medical field. Different people react different to medication, and bad reactions lead to a case of readmission that cannot be prevented by medical staff.

Abetting Obstacles to Readmission Reduction Program

Synchronization of Patient Data: Through the use of a common repository containing patient data, if a patient moves from one service provider to the next he/she can receive medical attention without worry.

Use of Standardized Medical System: Through the use of the standardized medical system, practitioners can provide medical care without the feeling of faltering occurring in chart analysis and prescription. This helps to avoid errors and wrong reports on patients condition/

Improvement of Discharge Plan: The implementation of a proper discharge plan would mean that patient data is up to date and he/she is informed of the required visits, hence avoiding aberration of the patient condition leading to readmission (Tuso, 2013).

It is clear to note that the rates of patient readmission are increasing and obstacles preventing the success of a patient readmission reduction program come in the way. In order to avoid these challenges, there is a need for medical facility administrators to address these challenges. Use of synchronized communication systems and repositories, doctors can share patient medical data and hence helps in reducing cases of inappropriate medication leading to readmission cases.

References

Bradley, E., Sipsma, H., Curry, L., Mehrotra, D., Horwitz, L., & Krumholz, H. (2013). Quality collaboratives and campaigns to reduce readmissions: What strategies are hospitals using?. Journal Of Hospital Medicine, 8(11), 601-608. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jhm.2076

Tuso, P. (2013). The Readmission Reduction Program of Kaiser Permanente Southern CaliforniaaKnowledge Transfer and Performance Improvement. The Permanente Journal, 17(3), 58-63. http://dx.doi.org/10.7812/tpp/12-141