Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Occupational Therapy Acute Care Services On Readmission Rates For Patients In Medicare’S Hospital Readmission Reduction Program, Jessica M. Edelstein

Theses and Dissertations

The United States (US) health care system is faced with the daunting challenge to make healthcare payments commensurate with quality of care provided. To assess quality, metrics for reimbursement have been established by Medicare. One such quality metric is hospital readmissions (readmissions). Readmissions are associated with poor patient outcomes and costly. Associated poor patient outcomes include higher risk for mortality, deconditioning, nutritional issues and cognitive impairments. As a result, readmissions cost Medicare $26 billion annually. Current strategies for reducing readmissions in the US are fragmented and hospital-specific. While specific strategies may vary, hospitals that have low readmissions rates tend to …