Effort to reduce hospital readmissions kicks off in New Jersey

Increased safety and reduced costs are driving an effort by the New Jersey Hospital Association to slash readmission rates for heart failure patients across the state, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports. The plan mirrors similar efforts recently launched in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Michigan, and comes on the heels of a report published in May concluding that poor follow-up with heart failure patients leads to increased readmissions. 

Fifty-plus hospitals, nursing homes, home health and hospice centers throughout New Jersey will collaborate in the yearlong effort, in which data sharing will be integral to success. "Team members" from each facility will meet on a regular basis to reach stated goals which include:

• Gaining a better understanding of why patients are being readmitted to hospitals;
• Identifying and sharing best practices that will help reduce readmissions;
• Developing resources for hospitals and post-acute providers to improve care of heart failure patients;
• Developing resources for patients to better manage their heart failure; and
• Using lessons learned from working with the heart failure population and readmissions data and spread this information to other groups such as diabetics, other cardiac patients and patients with pneumonia.

"We all know there is always more to be done to make our healthcare system more efficient," NJHA President and CEO Betsy Ryan said in a statement. "With that as our motivation, this collaborative aims to zero in on factors that can help us prevent certain readmissions--for the sake of our patients and the overall quality and efficiency of our healthcare system."

To learn more:
- read this NJHA press release
- here's the Philadelphia Business Journal article

Related Articles:
Efforts to cut hospital readmission rates ongoing in Michigan, Pennsylvania
Hospitals risk readmissions, penalties with poor heart failure follow-up
CMS adds readmission rates to hospital performance measures
Hospitals say emphasis on readmission rates could hit them hard

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