Hospital/Long-Term Care Collaboration Lowers Medicare Readmission Rates By 5%

In 14 communities where long-term care facilities, hospitals, and other local service provider organizations coordinated post-discharge transitions of care, the mean Medicare 30-day rehospitalization rates per 1,000 beneficiaries dropped by 5.7% from 2006-2008 to 2009-2010; in 50 comparison communities without such care coordination partnerships, the mean 30-day rehospitalization rate per 1,000 beneficiaries dropped by 2.05% over the five year period. The communities with the partnerships were participating in Medicare pilot programs that took place between 2008 and 2010, and in which Quality Improvement Organizations (QIO) facilitated projects to improve care . . .