The Benefits of Coordinated Discharge

Providing hospital patients with a package of discharge services reduced their return hospital visits within 30 days of discharge by 30%, say researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC), Boston, MA and Brown University Alpert Medical School, Pawtucket, RI. They tested the efficacy of a “reengineered discharge” program through a randomized, controlled trial with a final sample of 738 patients admitted to BMC. The program was provided to 370 patients in an intervention group but not to 368 patients in a control group.