Readmission Prevention Effort Focuses on Colon Surgery Patients

"Although some may assume that the elements included in a discharge warning set would be intuitive, we found surprising variation among experts regarding which items should be included," Li and colleagues wrote.

These days, the researchers wrote, typical colorectal surgery patients are increasingly older, with multiple co-morbidities and most will be discharged home.

But "discharge home, even with home health care services, does not guarantee an effective care transition because multimorbid older adults often have cognitive and functional impairments, complex medication regimens, multiple follow-up appointments and greater reliance on social support for basic activities of daily living.

But evidence-based interventions using patient-centered triggers can reduce medication adverse events "and alert patients and families to warning symptoms of disease exacerbations" that prevent readmissions, they wrote.