Home Health Care a Cost Savings Solution for Medicare Senior Rehospitalizations

Home Health Care Lowest Cost Provider

In Saving Billions in Avoidable Hospital Readmissions

The Costs of Hospital Readmissions

• The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has estimated the cost of avoidable hospital readmissions to Medicare at more than $17 billion a year.
• Nearly one in five Medicare patients discharged from the hospital is readmitted within 30 days; that is approximately 2.6 million seniors at a cost of over $26 billion per year, according to CMS.
• According to CMS, the average Medicare cost for a hospital readmission stay is $9,600.
• A new report from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice examined 10.7 million hospital discharges for Medicare patients from 2004 – 2009 and found little progress in reducing hospital readmissions or improving care coordination for Medicare patients.
• Hospital readmissions are usually due to three factors: medical mismanagement, inconsistent communication among post-discharge healthcare providers or lack of patient knowledge.
• Beginning in October, 2012, CMS will begin to reduce Medicare payments to hospitals for excessive hospital readmissions rates.
• An independent, not-for-profit organization, the Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies more than 19,000 health care organizations, says hospital readmissions are mainly a result of gaps in follow-up care.  “This presents an opportunity for home health providers who are increasingly managing the transitions of sicker Americans out of acute-care settings and into the home. Appropriately managed transitions can also help patients avoid medication errors and unintentional falls, which cause thousands of deaths and cost approximately $19 billion per year,” the Joint Commission says.

Home Health Care Preferred Patient Setting for Improved Quality, Lower Costs

• The Joint Commission cites four studies in its report on home health care. “Just about everyone agrees: the home is the best setting for providing health care to increasing numbers of patients. Not only can care be provided less expensively in the home, evidence suggests that home care is a key step toward achieving optimal health outcomes for many patients.  These studies show that home care interventions can improve quality of care and reduce hospitalizations due to chronic conditions of adverse effects.[1]
• According to the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), a home health visit by a registered nurse costs $135 nationally. But, if a patient does not have home health care and instead goes to the emergency room, the same services provided by the nurse at home average $1,800 at the hospital, NAHC says.
• Avalere Health, a Washington, D.C.- based healthcare advisory services organization, found that home healthcare use by patients after an initial hospital visit saved $2.8 billion in Medicare spending over a three-year period (2006 – 09.) If patients had used home healthcare instead of other services, Medicare spending could have been further reduced by $2.1 billion over the same time period.  “Our study shows that home healthcare is cost effective and benefits patients by improving the continuity of their care,” said Emil Parker, director, Avalere Health.

CovenantCare at Home a Leader in Care Transitions Pilot Program to Reduce Readmissions

• CMS has launched a Care Transitions Program aimed at helping healthcare providers work together to avoid readmissions.  In a pilot program inDenver, CovenantCare at Home played a leadership role in developing a Patient Health Record that is credited with helping reduce hospital readmissions by 9.3% over three years at two major hospitals.CMSis now rolling out the program nationally.
• “We are thrilled with these results, from the dual perspectives of improved patient care and cost savings,” said Joseph D. Haughney, President of Chicago-based CovenantCare at Home. “What theDenverteam has learned, in terms of sharing patient information and educating caregivers and patients during transitions among healthcare settings, will contribute to meaningful healthcare collaboration and dramatic cost savings.”
• CovenantCare at Home plans to participate in Care Transitions Programs in its six major markets. “We believe that our expertise in delivering healthcare to seniors at home is perfectly aligned with the goals of successful Care Transitions programs. And, we are committed to the delivery of quality healthcare through collaboration among all healthcare providers.”
• Everyone, from American taxpayers to patients and their caregivers,” he concludes, “will benefit from the cost savings to Medicare that home healthcare delivers.

About CovenantCare at Home

CovenantCare at Home is a non-profit,Chicagobased, Medicare-certified Home Health, Hospice, and Personal Care healthcare provider. It is affiliated with Covenant Retirement Communities (CRC), one of the largest networks of residential communities for seniors in the country. CovenantCare partners with hospitals, physicians, and residential care facilities to provide Medicare–certified, skilled healthcare, personal care and hospice services – with a focus on patient-centered care and teamwork among all medical providers.

CovenantCare’s services are grounded in a 125-year heritage of healthcare services and senior care.  For more information about Covenant Care at Home, visit www.CovenantCareatHome.org.