Study Says Pa. Hospital Patients Need Better Post-Op Care

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio 1060) -- There's both good news and bad out of a new study of hospital stay outcomes in Pennsylvania.

KYW's John Ostapkovich reports that on the bright side, you were slightly less likely to die in the hospital in 2009 compared to 2002, but you were slightly more likely to have to go back in very soon.

About one third of those hospital readmissions were due to infections, but Kate Flynn, president of the Health Care Improvement Foundation, says there are two other prime movers: a lackadaisical approach to filling and using post-discharge prescriptions, and getting the patient in to see a primary care physician within a week.

Flynn says patients could have a post-discharge coordinator basically "nag" so these things happen:

"All that, if it's done right, if it's coordinated well, can keep that patient at home and continue with their recovery and not bring them right back to the ER."

Flynn says the cost of readmission far outweighs the cost of that follow-up attention.