title: The impact of postdischarge telephonic follow-up on hospital readmissions.
abstract: Abstract Recurrent hospitalizations are responsible for considerable health care spending, although prior studies have shown that a substantial proportion of readmissions are preventable through effective discharge planning and patient follow-up after the initial hospital visit. This retrospective cohort study was undertaken to determine whether telephonic outreach to ensure patient understanding of and adherence to discharge orders following a hospitalization is effective at reducing hospital readmissions within 30 days after discharge. Claims data were analyzed from 30,272 members of a commercial health plan who were discharged from a hospital in 2008 to determine the impact of telephonic intervention on the reduction of 30-day readmissions. Members who received a telephone call within 14 days of discharge and were not readmitted prior to that call comprised the intervention group; all other members formed the comparison group. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the impact of the intervention on 30-day readmissions, after adjusting for covariates. Results demonstrated that older age, male sex, and increased initial hospitalization length of stay were associated with an increased likelihood of readmission (P < 0.001). Receipt of a discharge call was associated with reduced rates of readmission; intervention group members were 23.1% less likely than the comparison group to be readmitted within 30 days of hospital discharge (P = 0.043). These findings indicate that timely discharge follow-up by telephone to supplement standard care is effective at reducing near-term hospital readmissions and, thus, provides a means of reducing costs for health plans and their members.
authors.affiliation: Healthways Center for Health Research, Franklin, Tennessee 37067, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: Pamela A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Pope
authors.forename: Michelle C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Elizabeth Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Rula
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019090:Case Management / Q000458:organization & administration; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013689:Telephone; D055815:Young Adult