How Locum Tenens Can Help Reduce Your Hospital Readmission Rates

Everyone wins when patient care improves. Increased safety and patient care will not only decrease hospital readmission rates, but it improves your community standing and financial bottom line. Unfortunately, approximately one in five patients is readmitted within 30 days of discharge, reports the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are penalizing hospitals up to 3 percent of payments from CMS. This includes readmission within 30 days of their original admittance for chronic lung disease, coronary artery bypass graft surgery, heart attack or failure, hip/knee replacement, or pneumonia. Just in FY2017, $528 million in CMS payments were withheld due to readmission.

Locum tenens staffing can help improve patient care, reduce the risk of penalties, and improve hospital readmission rates.

Reducing Hospital Readmission Rates and Improving Patient Care

Partnering with a locum tenens staffing agency delivers targeted, essential help when and where you need it. Physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other advanced practitioners are available to improve patient safety and care and help reduce hospital readmission rates.

Locum tenens agencies offer short-term, long-term and direct hire coverage. Locum tenens resources provide healthcare systems practical solutions.

• More time with patients. Care begins the moment your patient walks through the door. Locum tenens providers ensure there is never a gap in coverage during holidays or absences. They can provide essential intake, diagnosis skills, treatment suggestions, and care from start to finish during the patient's initial admission. Continual, regulation-compliant staff ensures patients have the time to ask questions and better understand their treatment plans.
• Follow-up after appointments is essential. Hiring locum tenens as full-time or support staff can reduce the pressure on current employees. It gives your staff more freedom to address or eliminate problems by connecting with patients through personalized contact.
• Reduce physician burnout and reduce mistakes. Burnout can be detrimental to patient safety and care, and lead to infractions or fines. Reduce stress, offer your current staff flexibility, and provide staff recuperation time with the help of locum tenens providers.
• Knowledge-sharing leads to new discoveries. Locum tenens staffing agencies have a large pool of providers with a wide range of experience and wealth of knowledge. New staff may have a unique perspective on how to solve problems and improve care.

Strategically using complementary locum tenens staffing pays dividends now and fiscal years to come. You'll reduce the overall costs of lost billing and CMS fines, bolster community support, and improve employee and patient relations.

Find Your Solution to Reducing Hospital Readmission Rates

If you are looking for a partner in healthcare, contact Health Carousel Locum Tenens today. We can help you find staffing solutions to improve patient care and reduce hospital readmission rates.