Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Reducing 30-Day Readmissions

For several years, the hospital has been focused on reducing 30-day readmissions. After learning about the University HealthSystem Consortium’s Frequently Admitted Patient Improvement Collaborative, the hospital analyzed the patient population with five or more inpatient stays in the past 12 months. The analysis revealed that 2.5 percent of the patient population made up 43 percent of all of the medical center’s 30-day readmissions. The hospital’s interdisciplinary performance improvement team did a deeper dive into the charts and data of frequently admitted patients to understand their demographics, diagnoses, procedures and outpatient care. The team followed up this analysis with patient interviews to discover drivers of the readmission cycle from the stories of these patients. With this knowledge, the team piloted and scaled up interventions aimed at better connecting the inpatient, outpatient and community providers of care. The goal was to develop a scalable mechanism for providers to share their knowledge of a patient's situation and collaborate on a care plan for a specific patient that utilizes services already available.

This case study is part of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association's annual Quality Excellence Achievement Awards. Each year, IHA recognizes and celebrates the achievements of Illinois hospitals and health systems in continually improving and transforming health care in the state. These organizations are improving health by striving to achieve the Triple Aim—improving the patient experience of care (including quality and satisfaction), improving the health of populations, and reducing the per capita cost of health care—and the Institute of Medicine’s six aims for improvement—safe, effective, patient centered, timely, efficient, and equitable. To learn more, visit https://www.ihaqualityawards.org/javascript-ui/IHAQualityAward/