Eli's Rehab Report

Published on Sat Jun 20, 2009 PDF

Heads up, post-acute rehab providers: CMS wants to get a handle on the number of Medicare patients that are readmitted to hospitals following discharge -- and experts are predicting payment penalties for this down the road.

For now, CMS has chosen 14 communities that will serve as models for new approaches to addressing hospital readmissions.

Our data shows that nearly one in five patients who leave the hospital today will be readmitted within the next month, and that more than three quarters of these readmissions are potentially preventable, said Charlene Frizzera, CMS acting administrator, in an April 13 statement.

To cut down on the readmissions, CMS established 14 regions where it will test a new Care Transitions Project. The aim of the project is to use community resources that work together to help patients achieve more seamless transitions following hospital discharge.

To read more about the project, visit www.cfmc.org/caretransitions.