A new AHRQ environmental scan identifies key components that should be included in primary care-based efforts to reduce hospital readmissions. Researchers examined current evidence on reducing readmissions from the primary care perspective, with a focus on evidence from successful practices. Research from AHRQ’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) indicates high rates of readmissions in the Medicare and adult Medicaid population associated with prescribing errors and misdiagnoses of conditions in the hospital and ambulatory care settings.
The primary goals of the research were to:
- Analyze current processes in the primary care visit associated with hospital discharge.
- Identify components of a re-engineered visit to reduce readmissions from the primary care perspective.
Many efforts to reduce readmissions have focused on the hospital setting and the use of evidence-based programs such as AHRQ’s Re-Engineered Discharge (RED) toolkit. Investigators found that the most effective interventions involved care coordination, medication management, post-discharge telephone outreach, and patient education.
The environmental scan examines what is currently known about reducing readmissions from the primary care perspective, with a focus on evidence of successful practices, by analyzing the findings of 42 peer-reviewed articles and 30 items from the gray literature.
The environmental scan is the first product resulting from the contract.
Access the report here.
