The impact of postdischarge telephonic follow-up on hospital readmissions

Abstract

Abstract Recurrent hospitalizations are responsible for considerable health care spending, although prior studies have shown that a substantial proportion of readmissions are preventable through effective discharge planning and patient follow-up after the initial hospital visit. This retrospective cohort study was undertaken to determine whether telephonic outreach to ensure patient understanding of and adherence to discharge orders following a hospitalization is effective at reducing hospital readmissions within 30 days after discharge. Claims data were analyzed from 30,272 members of a commercial health plan who were discharged from a hospital in 2008 to determine the impact of telephonic intervention on the reduction of 30-day readmissions. Members who received a telephone call within 14 days of discharge and were not readmitted prior to that call comprised the intervention group; all other members formed the comparison group. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the impact of the intervention on 30-day readmissions, after adjusting for covariates. Results demonstrated that older age, male sex, and increased initial hospitalization length of stay were associated with an increased likelihood of readmission (P < 0.001). Receipt of a discharge call was associated with reduced rates of readmission; intervention group members were 23.1% less likely than the comparison group to be readmitted within 30 days of hospital discharge (P = 0.043). These findings indicate that timely discharge follow-up by telephone to supplement standard care is effective at reducing near-term hospital readmissions and, thus, provides a means of reducing costs for health plans and their members.

FIG. 1.

Classification of study population into intervention and comparison groups. Shading indicates the final classification of a population subgroup; all percentages are in relation to the total population.

FIG. 2.

Illustration of readmission window variable.

FIG. 3.

Distribution of readmission and discharge calls with respect to day of discharge. (A) the distribution of readmissions by time frame after discharge among the total population; (B) the distribution of calls by day after discharge for intervention group members.