Team focusing on those at high risk of readmittance can reduce rehospitalizations

Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 15, 2009

A year-long study at a Minneapolis nursing home showed that focused care by a team of University of Minnesota medical specialists cut the number of older short-term patients who were rehospitalized by 20% to a rate 33% below the national average. The savings from such a program could be huge: High rates of rehospitalization cost the federal Medicare program more than $17 billion, a recent study estimated.