New Analysis Shows Role Home Health Plays in Reducing Readmissions

Last week the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation released new data regarding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) Model.

The data analysis, conducted by Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, comes just more than two months after CMS launched the bundled payment model for major joint replacements in 67 regions of the country.

The analysis looks at discharges between October 2011 and September 2014 for patients from the hospital to various post-acute care (PAC) settings who underwent major joint replacement without major complication or comorbidity. It found that by sending patients to home health as opposed to a facility based setting, hospitals can lower the cost of the episode payment by $5,000 and reduce the risk of patients returning to the hospital.

Across all (PAC) settings, eight percent of episodes contained a readmission, but that number drops to an average of five percent for patients who received home health after their hospital stay. This is compared to readmission rates of 12 to 15 percent for patients receiving rehabilitation in facility-based settings.

As hospitals across the country begin implementing the new CJR payment model, this new data demonstrates that home health is a key component to reducing overall costs and bettering patient outcomes.