Effects of a Home-Based Intervention Among Patients With Congestive Heart Failure Discharged From Acute Hospital Care

Abstract

COSTS associated with readmissions to the hospital have been estimated at approximately 24% of total Medicare inpatient expenditures in the United States.¹ The distribution of costs is non-Gaussian, with a disproportionate effect on total costs by those patients categorized as "high-cost users"^2,3: occurrence of unplanned readmissions provides a basis for these incremental costs. For example, among patients with congestive heart failure (CHF), the leading cause of hospitalization among patients older than 65 years,⁴ reported readmission rates range from 6% to 14% per month during the 6 months after initial discharge.^5-9