Report: Tablet-Based App Curbs Readmissions for at-Risk Patients

Health coaches who used tablet-based software to monitor the health of recently discharged, at-risk Medicare beneficiaries were better able to reduce readmission rates than health coaches who did not use the software, according to an Innovations Exchange report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Becker's Hospital Review's "Hospital CIO" reports (Jayanthi, "Hospital CIO," 

Program Results

Hospital-generated admissions data from participating hospitals show that incorporating the tablet-based application into the visitation program helped to:

• Cut 30-day readmissions by 39.6% among at-risk patients eligible for the program, compared with a previous visitation program that did not use the software; 
• Reduce all-cause readmissions for all Medicare beneficiaries, including those not assigned a coach, by 5.9%; and
• Save roughly $109 per patient per month over a six-month period, with gross savings of about $600,000 and net savings of roughly $370,000 (Goth, Health Data Management, 8/6). 
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