{"id":7440,"date":"2013-07-20T07:00:23","date_gmt":"2013-07-20T12:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/?p=7440"},"modified":"2013-07-19T18:45:05","modified_gmt":"2013-07-19T23:45:05","slug":"american-heart-association-gives-six-steps-that-could-cut-heart-failure-readmissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/2013\/07\/20\/american-heart-association-gives-six-steps-that-could-cut-heart-failure-readmissions\/","title":{"rendered":"American Heart Association gives Six steps that could cut Heart Failure Readmissions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reducing heart failure readmissions could save millions of dollars.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"AmericanDallas, TX<\/strong> – There are six procedural things hospital teams can do to help heart failure patients avoid another hospital stay in the 30 days after they\u2019re discharged \u2014 and if all six are followed, patients are even more likely to avoid readmission, according to new research in the American Heart Association\u2019s journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.<\/em><\/p>\n

Each step alone had some impact, but researchers discovered that if all six recommendations are followed, readmissions could drop as much as 2 percent. The study\u2019s lead author said that may seem like a small number, but the significance is enormous.\u201cA million people are hospitalized with heart failure each year and about 250,000 will be back in the hospital within a month,\u201d said Elizabeth H. Bradley, Ph.D., professor of public health and faculty director of the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute at Yale University in New Haven, CT. \u201cIf we could keep even 2 percent of them from coming back to the hospital, that could equal a savings of more than $100 million a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heart failure hospital readmissions are common and a major contributor to rising healthcare costs. Bradley and her team sought ways to cut that, and identified six steps as most effective:<\/p>\n