Missed Opportunities in Preventing Hospital Readmissions: Redesigning Post‐Discharge Checkup Policies

Abstract

Hospital readmissions affect hundreds of thousands of patients every year, negatively impacting patients and placing a tremendous burden on the national healthcare system. Post‐discharge checkup policies can reduce readmissions through early detection of health conditions, however, the methods behind designing effective checkup policies are poorly understood. Under current practice, up to 67% of readmitted patients return to the hospital before their first scheduled office visit. This work aims to develop effective checkup plans to monitor patients following hospital discharge, using a variety of checkup methods, including phone calls and office visits. We develop and analyze a new delay‐time analysis model to identify the optimal type and timing of checkups to implement post‐discharge monitoring plans. By analyzing the structure of optimal policies, we develop checkup schedules that can detect up to 43.7% more readmission‐causing conditions experienced by readmission‐bound patients. Further, we uncover simple rules of thumb that can help doctors design and improve monitoring plans even in the absence of advanced computer software or complex computations.