The United States Census Bureau estimates that in 2014, nearly 11 percent of Coloradans had some form of mental or physical disability, and over 900,000 residents were over the age of 60. Many of these individuals received care in long-term, live-in facilities removed from the vitality of community life.
Seeking Rational Approaches to Fixing Hospital Readmissions
By: Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH
Spurred by federal policy makers, US hospitals have made substantial efforts to address the problem of high rates of patients being readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. Underlying this policy focus is a straightforward idea: when patients are discharged from the hospital, with some exceptions, they shouldn't have to return within 30 days.
Hospitals Employ Email 'Empathy' to Help Doctors and Patients Keep in Touch
By: Barbara Feder Ostrov
A California startup, HealthLoop, told Waller its messaging technology would improve their satisfaction and help keep them out of the hospital. High satisfaction scores and low readmission rates mean higher reimbursements from Medicare, so Waller was intrigued.
How High-Need Patients Experience the Health Care System in Nine Countries
By: Dana O. Sarnak and Jamie Ryan
U.S. health care costs are disproportionately concentrated among older adults with multiple chronic conditions or functional limitations - a populations often referred to as high-need patients. This analysis uses data from the Commonwealth Fund 2014 International Health Policy Survey of Older Adults to investigate health care use, quality, and experiences among high-need patients in nine countries compared to other older adults.
CMS releases the annual report summarizing impacts from the Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Hospitalizations among Nursing Facility Residents in 2014. This three-year-old initiative is designed to test ways to reduce avoidable hospitalizations among long-stay nursing facility residents.
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Share your stories:Sharing stories can lead to positive change. Tell us about your experience as a provider, patient or caregiver and inspire others to make changes and help find new ways to improve care across Colorado. Submit stories here for inclusion on the HTC site.
Healthy Transitions Colorado is a collaborative effort, focused on aligning and accelerating existing efforts to improve transitions of care for Coloradans. Our guiding principles are simple - by working together to break down the silos of health care, we can foster true community care coordination across facilities, specialties, and practices.
