Premium
Hospital Readmission From Home Health Care Before and After Prospective Payment
Author(s) -
Anderson Mary Ann,
Clarke Mara M.,
Helms Lelia B.,
Foreman Marquis D.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of nursing scholarship
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.009
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1547-5069
pISSN - 1527-6546
DOI - 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2005.00001.x
Subject(s) - prospective payment system , medicine , payment , home health , health care , data collection , agency (philosophy) , medical record , medical emergency , family medicine , nursing , business , finance , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , epistemology , economics , radiology , economic growth
Purpose:To describe and compare clients who were readmitted to the hospital during an episode of home health care, before and after the inception of the prospective payment system (PPS).Design:A longitudinal mixed design was used to replicate a study conducted 9 years previously (pre‐PPS) in the same home care agency in the central part of the United States.Methods:Seventy‐six closed‐case medical records from a not‐for‐profit hospital‐affiliated home care agency were retrospectively reviewed and compared to pre‐PPS data. The same data collection tool, the Hospital Readmission Inventory, was used for both pre‐ and post‐PPS studies. Nurse administrators at the data collection agency were interviewed concerning comparative results.Findings:Currently readmitted clients were sicker than were those in the previous research report, they were readmitted sooner for a different diagnosis, and they had less continuity of services.Conclusions:The home health care industry has undergone a dramatic change in payment for services, from fee‐for‐service to PPS. Of particular concern is the adverse patient outcome of an unplanned hospital readmission. Prior studies have characterized such patients in home health care, but no comparative reports were found in a literature search since the inception of PPS. Findings from this study indicated that an increased emphasis on cost containment and higher‐risk clients appear to have changed patterns of care delivery.