Report: Hospitals across the country failing patients after discharge

Hospitals across the country are doing a dismal job making sure their patients stay healthy after they have been discharged, according to a new report released Wednesday.

Readmission rates have actually increased nationally for some conditions over the past five years, according to the Dartmouth Atlas Project, which tracks regional variations in care. The new data come as hospitals with high readmission rates will start seeing Medicare reimbursement cuts under the healthcare reform law, starting in October 2012.

"The report highlights widespread and systematic failures in coordinating care for patients after they leave the hospital," lead author David Goodman said in a statement accompanying the report. "Irrespective of the cause, unnecessary hospital readmissions lead to more tests and treatments, more time away from home and family, and higher health care costs."

Researchers at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Care Policy and Clinical Practice examined 10.7 million hospital discharges for Medicare patients and found "striking variation" across regions and academic medical centers in readmission rates 30 days after discharge. They also found that more than half of Medicare patients do not see a primary care clinician within two weeks of leaving the hospital, and that areas that rely more heavily on hospitals to provide healthcare have the highest readmission rates.

"The need to develop more efficient systems of care that include discharge planning and care coordination is clear," said report co-author Elliott Fisher.

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