title: Look beyond your hospital walls to prevent readmissions.
abstract: Instead of limiting their efforts to what happens while patients are in the hospital, case managers need to reach out to community providers and make sure patients have everything they need to prevent a readmission. Next month, CMS begins penalizing hospitals for excess readmissions. It takes collaboration with downstream providers to ensure a successful transition to the community. Communication between levels of care is essential in preventing readmissions. Start by taking a hard look at your discharge process and collaborating within the hospital to make improvements.
mesh_terms: D019090:Case Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006801:Humans; D010359:Patient Readmission; D014481:United States