The seven-day readmission rate is the percentage of patients who are readmitted to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital for the same or related medical condition within seven days of their initial discharge. Surgical patients are not included in this measure.
Why this matters
A low readmission rate indicates that the right care was provided, and patients were not sent home from the hospital too early. While some readmissions are expected as part of the planned care for a patient, we are measuring the ones who were not expected to come back.
Some readmissions can be prevented by helping the patient and their family prepare for the changes they will have to make when leaving the hospital. This measure also lets us know how well we teach our patients and their families about the illness and the right care at home. This education can help prevent the need to come back to the hospital.
What we are doing to reduce seven-day readmissions
We have taken several steps to reduce the readmission rate.
- Develop evidenced-based medicine discharge criteria
- Improve patient and family education
- Ensure the doctors, nurses and therapists work together to help the patient and family with the changes in care from the hospital to the home setting
- Ensure the patient has follow-up medical care and home monitoring
- Ensure the patient/family has access to appropriate support
- Ensure the patient/family has the prescription medicine and medical equipment they need
- Ensure the patient/family has transportation to get to follow-up appointments
- Ensure the patient/family know how to contact their doctor to report changes in their condition
