HCAF: Effective Pain Management for Your Local Hospital Prescriptions for Reducing Re-Hospitalizations - Session 1 (CEU: SN, ST, OT - 1.5)

MS has focused much of their recent health care reform efforts on costly and inefficient elements of traditional care delivery under the Medicare model. One of the greatest cost concerns of the care continuum is the rate of hospital readmissions; particularly those patients who return to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. These patients, who are unable to complete their care episodes in the community due to medical concerns, nearly double the cost of the episode when they are readmitted to the hospital. Beginning October 1, hospitals were penalized for readmissions that occur for specific diagnoses, and this will continue to the eventual ACO/Bundling models, where readmissions will be effectively un-funded for hospital providers.

This webinar series will address the topic of costly readmissions, how some hospitals are preparing to address these concerns, the role of post-acute home health providers in reducing the rate of re-hospitalizations, and ideas on how to address patients traditionally readmitted to acute care. In addition, specific diagnoses will be vetted for focused and effective interventions that can reduce returns to acute care hospitals. Readmission rates are expected to decline to single digit levels over the next decade, and the time to prepare your staff and care protocols to achieve these levels is now. Course instructors - Arnie Cisneros & Linda Alexander