Stroke Education and Readmission Reduction

Stroke Education:

You are almost there!  In the month of July, we extend congratulations to Miami Valley Hospital and Upper Valley Medical Center for achieving 100 percent on this core measure! All Premier Health hospitals are making great improvements. Our compliance increased from 82.6 percent to 92.3 percent!

You have achieved this success by providing written education addressing these five pillars:

• Risk Factors
• Warning Signs
• Medications
• Follow Up
• Contacting EMS/911

Thank you for making a positive difference for our patients on their road to recovery!

Readmissions:

Our organization’s mission is to build healthier communities. One way that we do this is by ensuring patients and their families are prepared for discharge. In some cases, this means connecting them to community resources. Our goal is that the support we provide will enable them to continue their recovery. Unfortunately, patients with COPD, CHF and pneumonia are at higher risk for readmission. You are helping to make a difference through:

1. Patient and family education
   1. Diagnosis and Prognosis
   2. Medications (clarity around timing and dosage of medications, as well as side effects)
   3. Signs/symptoms to monitor
   4. Who to call with questions/concerns
2. Ensure we have a follow up appointment scheduled within seven days with a provider
3. Encourage patients to have prescriptions filled at the hospital so that our pharmacist can catch potential medications errors
4. Prior to instructing the patient and family on discharge care, review the after-visit summary for accuracy

When we do this well, we will decrease the need for patients to be readmitted to our hospitals.

Back to the November 2019 issue of the Nursing Newsletter