Report: Hospitals across the country failing patients after discharge

{mosads}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.