Today, patient post-care and outreach are topics of much discussion in the medical field. Recent 
studies have highlighted huge amounts of waste due to readmissions, with potentially up to 75% of them being preventable.
And the #1 cause is simply a lack of patient information. Whether they weren't given proper post-care instructions, or didn't receive face-to-face instruction, the patients interviewed said repeatedly that they weren't told what they needed to know.
In fact, drug-related complications -which are virtually always avoidable- ultimately accounted for 2/3 of readmissions in studies.
That's why professional discharge folders are a smart investment for any healthcare provider. They cost, at most, a few dollars per patient, yet each one can potentially prevent tens of thousands of dollars in loss.
The Costs Associated With Preventable Readmissions
When evaluating the benefits of an investment in sturdy discharge folders, it's going to be weighed against the many expenses associated with needless re-admissions. Discharge folders are an insurance policy that make a lot of sense.
-
Direct Costs: To begin with, a needless re-admission is likely to cost at least $10,000 up front, going up from there based on the severity of the case.
-
Medicare Penalties: With every preventable re-admission, there may be associated medicare penalties, or potentially even a lack of reimbursement.
-
Decreased ER Wait Time: Every prevented re-admission leaves more people caring for other ER visitors, as well as preventing walkaways.
-
Decreased Bed Capacities: Every re-admission is another bed filled, and probably with someone you're not making much money on.
-
Higher Chances Of Malpractice Suits: Poor post-care information is a magnet for malpractice attacks, and every one costs you money, even if it's ultimately unsuccessful.
-
Lowered Patient Ratings: Consumer ratings are becoming an important factor in every area of business, including the medical field. Lower ratings mean less business.
-
Staff Time Wasted: While it's difficult to name an exact dollar figure, every readmission undoubtedly inconveniences at least a half-dozen people who all have better things to do.
As one health care study added things up, a single readmission can cost a hospital up to $60,000.
And in the meantime, that can be prevented in a large number of cases with nothing more complex than a folder, with a complete set of post-care information inside.
Feel Secure When Sending Patients Home
The discharge process is stressful for everyone. The nurses on duty always have a dozen things to do, and the patients are often -at best- tired and cranky. Often, patients may still be woozy from medications and not really capable of understanding complex directions - even if they're saying "yes, I understand."
A discharge folder, therefore, creates the perfect teaching tool. When the patient is in the process of discharge, the staff member on duty can explain the materials to them, directly. Even if the patient doesn't catch it all then, they'll have the packet to look through later on.
Further, accordion-style discharge folders can be internally subdivided to suit the needs of different patients. Those with complex sets of directions covering different areas of their lives - medications, work restrictions, etc - can have a series of tabs keeping the material organized.
Or, for patients on a timeline that stretches some months in the future, a time-based organizational system keeps them on track. A series of tabs sorted by future dates clearly charts a patient's roadmap to recovery.
Discharge Folders: A Small Investment With Big Payoffs
When compared to the high costs associated with even a single readmission, the relatively tiny investment in discharge folders seems an easy expense to justify. If thousands of such folders prevent even one readmission, in most cases, they've already paid for themselves.
