Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2020 July, 251(3)

Effectiveness of Hospital Discharge Support by Medical and Nursing Care Workers in Reducing Readmission Rates of Patients in Long-Term Care Wards: An Observation Study in Japan

HIROFUMI TSUBOI¹ and KENJI FUJIMORI¹

¹Department of Health Administration and Policy, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

For increasing medical care demand by aging population, the Japanese government is shifting to home medical care for treatments that do not necessarily require hospitalization. It is therefore essential to identify factors involved in improving the quality and outcomes of home medical care. This study examined the effect of hospital discharge support in long-term care wards on readmission rates. We used medical insurance and the Long-Term Care Insurance data of patients aged ge; 65. Participants were patients who discharged between April 2012 and March 2016 from long-term care wards that did not require 24-hour monitoring and had no specific incurable diseases. Participants were divided into two groups according to hospital discharge support, defined by medical fee incentives for discharge planning and coordination of medical and nursing services after discharge. We explored the association between hospital discharge support and risk-adjusted readmission based on patient characteristics for one year beginning the month after patient discharge. This study involved a total of 10,998 patients: 2,563 patients with hospital discharge support and 8,435 patients without relevant support. In the group with hospital discharge support, there was a significant reduction in readmission rates. When examined by patients' characteristics, this association was significant in groups with age ge; 85, care needs levels 1 to 2 (conditions requiring partial care for daily living), dementia or fracture. Our results suggest that hospital discharge support by medical and nursing care workers is effective in reducing readmission rates. Moreover, patients' age, care needs, and underlying disease should be considered.

Keywords —— hospital discharge planning; hospital discharge support; Japan; long-term care; readmission

© 2020 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2020 July, 251(3), 225-230.

Correspondence: Hirofumi Tsuboi, M.D., Department of Health Administration and Policy, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan.

e-mail: tsuboi@med.tohoku.ac.jp