Certain health conditions pose a greater risk of readmission than others. Heart failure and mental health patients are more likely to be readmitted than other patients. Readmission is sometimes influenced by disease diagnosis and its severity at the time of admission. To compare the rates of readmission across services fairly, Hermann, ROLLINS, & CHAN (2007) suggested that risk adjusting should be performed to cater for the disparities between the populations that use particular services.
Psychiatric patients who return to their homes after discharge are less likely to be readmitted than those who are homeless (those who are discharged to boarding houses); providing these people with permanent housing facilities would reduce their risk of readmission. (Martinez and Burt, 2006). Forchuk et al, (2007) in their study found out that a well-planned discharge plan like those implemented in Canada and Scotland would go a long way in reducing the number of readmissions.
Business rules and governance, identifying the purpose of admission and/or readmission, and effective communication between patient and caregiver also play a major role in reducing the readmission rate.
To be able to plan a discharge properly, various strategies can be implemented. Individual case multidisciplinary review where social workers particularly were not left out was the first step. Defining the roles and responsibilities of service providers and communicating the expected outcome is another strategy that can help in discharge planning. There is no sufficient literature linking the length of stay to the risk of readmission, but some scholars believe that the longer they stay the higher the chances of readmission and others look at it on the contrary that if the stay is short one is more likely to be readmitted.
References
Forchuk, C., Reynolds, W., Sharkey, S., Martin, M.-L. & Jensen, E. (2007) The Transitional Discharge Model: comparing implementation in Canada and Scotland. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing in Mental Health Services 45, 31-38.
Hermann, R., Rollins, C. & Chan, J. (2007) Risk-adjusting outcomes of mental health and substance-related care: A review of the literature. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 15, 52-69.
Martinez, T. E. & Burt, M. R. (2006) Impact of permanent supporting housing on the use of acute care health services by homeless adults. Psychiatric Services, 57, 992-999.