The Impact of Care Transitions on Outcomes and Readmissions

Course overview

About one in five Medicare beneficiaries discharged from the hospital is readmitted within 30 days of discharge at a cost of $26 billion a year. Three-quarters of those readmissions are considered potentially preventable, representing an estimated $12 billion in Medicare spending. While not a new problem, the Affordable Care Act has provisions targeted at changing this long-standing problem that affects patient outcomes and increases healthcare system costs. This course will familiarize nurses with the concept of care transitions and ways to improve outcomes and decrease avoidable readmissions.