title: A Home Visit Checklist to Reduce Rehospitalizations.
abstract: Hospital readmission rates have become the subject of national attention among healthcare providers. Home healthcare agencies work to bridge the gap between hospital and home/community, and share a vested interest in reducing hospital readmissions. Evidence supports the use of checklists to improve safety and decrease risk by reducing errors of omission, facilitating communication and improving clinician accountability. This article proposes that the use of checklists in home healthcare agencies may reduce rehospitalizations, and presents the experience of a large home healthcare agency's creation and implementation of a pilot study to introduce a home visit checklist.
authors: Sharon L. Wood, MSN, RN, College of Education, Nursing and Health Professionals, University of Hartford, West Hartford, Connecticut.
authors: Sharon L
authors: SL
authors: Wood
mesh_terms: D057189:Checklist; D018574:Home Care Agencies; D006699:Home Care Services; D064650:Home Health Nursing; D006792:House Calls; D006801:Humans; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018570:Risk Assessment