Essay On Hospital Readmission

For some of the most common conditions treated in hospitals, as many as one in five patients is readmitted within 30 days of his/her discharge, reports the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Being readmitted has consequences. For one, readmissions cost Medicare an estimated 17.5 billion a year, as hospitals bill the government for the care. But the toll readmission takes on patients and their families is incalculable. “The most important problem of readmission is not the cost, but the fact that patients are ending up back in the hospital,” David C. Goodman, M.D. co-principal investigator of the Dartmouth Atlas of the Healthcare, said. “That means they have gotten sicker, or that there is a failure to care for them in the community.”
None of us were put on this earth to be alone and other people in our lives play a big part of our well-being. This could include church, a group fitness center, a twelve step group, a gardening club, a book club, a free class at a college. If none of the activities I have listed interest you, I encourage you to stop the next person you see and ask them for some ideas.
Reach out to others.
What to do to reduce your risk of having to be readmitted to a hospital:
See a discharge planner
Decide if you are ready to go home. If you don’t feel ready to leave, say so. If your doctor isn’t able to extend your stay, appeal to the discharge planner, the hospital’s patient advocate, or a state appeals board.
Get a discharge summary. Ask for a clear written statement of what you should do when you get home.
Get a discharge list of medications
Get late test results. Make sure your doctor has test results that were done within 24 hours of your discharge.
Schedule an appointment with your primary care doctor. It should be a week or two after your hospital stay. If you don’t have a primary care doctor, ask the physician who oversaw your care who you should