Reducing readmissions is an important step toward better care coordination, improved quality of care and reduced waste. Many NAPH members regard reducing readmissions as vital, and several have implemented quality improvement projects to achieve this feat.

Under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, hospitals will experience a reduction in payments to account for preventable readmissions for certain conditions beginning Oct. 1, 2012. To help members address the potentially significant financial losses from this change, NAPH is conducting several projects to gather and share best practices on reducing readmissions in safety net hospitals. These projects will provide insight into strategies safety net hospitals have implemented to reduce readmissions, and the resources they needed to improve.