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Strategies For Reducing Preventable Hospital Readmissions On Medicare Patients, Andres Patricio Garcia-Arce

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The high expenditure of healthcare in the United States (U.S.) does not translate into better quality of care. Indeed, the U.S. healthcare system is recognized by its lack of efficiency and waste (which represents about 20% of the country’s healthcare expenses). Lack of coordination is one of the most referenced causes of waste in the U.S. healthcare system, and preventable hospital readmissions have been acknowledged to be evidence of poor coordination of care. In fiscal year 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) established financial penalties for inpatient care reimbursements in hospitals with excessive readmissions. All the same, …