LINCOLN, Neb., Sept. 9, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With financial penalties tied to 30-day hospital readmissions, it's no surprise that reducing avoidable readmissions is high on the agendas of hospital executives. A new 2013 benchmark report from Connect by National Research Corporation, a leading provider of solutions that improve patient care transitions, reveals top performer thresholds most likely to result in 30-day readmissions and penalties for hospitals.
The report sheds light on the thresholds of top-performing hospitals (those not anticipating readmission penalties) across three common predictors of hospital readmissions: medications adherence, follow-up care, and discharge instructions. With this new data, hospital executives can set targeted goals tied to these predictors and implement effective process improvements to reduce readmissions and penalties. In 2012, the readmissions and penalties resulted in nearly $280 million in Medicare payments being withheld from nearly 2,200 hospitals.
"While readmissions will never be eliminated, they can be significantly reduced by hospitals simply by focusing on the right predictors, setting the right targets, and monitoring progress," said Andy Monnich, Managing Director, at Connect. "The Connect 2013 Benchmarking Report delivers data and best practices that can streamline these efforts and provide ongoing, achievable improvements."
The report analyzes self-reported risk assessment data from nearly 800,000 patients discharged in 2013 from over 100 hospitals nationwide. The results set key performance thresholds for hospitals to achieve in order to avoid financial penalties. Hospitals with no readmission penalty, on average, experienced:
- 10.5% or fewer patient issues with understanding their discharge instructions
- 8.2% or fewer patient issues with medication understanding or adherence
- 6.9% or fewer patient issues with ability to attend follow-up appointments
Healthcare organizations that use patient transition of care data and benchmarks can not only significantly reduce readmissions but also improve HCAHPS scores. Examples highlighted in the report include one Michigan health system that reduced readmissions by 40% and a 30% improvement in the overall HCAHPS rating for a 700-bed hospital in Florida.
Please contact Jackie Stevens at JStevens1@nationalresearch.com for more information or to request a copy of the Connect 2013 Benchmarking Report.
About Connect
Connect is committed to providing the technology to healthcare organizations to reduce readmissions and improve the patient experience. The company offers the largest database in the nation in patient care transitions, advanced analytics, and a suite of multi-channel communications tools. Connect is a division of National Research Corporation, which partners with more than 2,000 hospitals and healthcare systems throughout the United States and Canada.
About National Research Corporation
For more than 30 years, National Research Corporation (NASDAQ: NRCIA and NRCIB) has been at the forefront of patient-centered care. Today, the company's focus on empowering customer-centric healthcare across the continuum extends patient-centered care to incorporate families, communities, employees, senior housing residents, and other stakeholders.
Recognized by Modern Healthcare as the largest patient satisfaction firm in the U.S., National Research is dedicated to representing the true voice of patients and other healthcare stakeholders. This integration of cross-continuum metrics and analytics uncovers insights for effective performance improvement, quality measurement, care transitions, and many other factors that impact population health management.
National Research is headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. For more information, call 800-388-4264, write to info@nationalresearch.com, or visit www.nationalresearch.com.