The Impact of Telephonic Follow-Up Within 2 Business Days Postdischarge on 30-Day Readmissions for Patients With Heart Failure

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) is a chronic condition associated with high rates of hospital readmissions. The prevalence and costs of HF are expected to rise dramatically by 2030 (Heidenreich,et al., 2013). OBJECTIVE: A 24-month, retrospective study was conducted using electronic medical record (EMR) chart review, seeking to identify if postdischarge follow-up phone calls decreased 30-day readmissions in individuals with HF. METHODS: The study included 705 adult participants who were admitted to the hospital for HF. Some received a postdischarge call within 2 business days of discharge, and some did not. RESULTS: Participants who received the postdischarge call were less likely to be readmitted (20.1%) than participants who did not receive a postdischarge call (28.8%; = .007). Participants who received the postdischarge call were more likely to have a follow-up visit within 14 days (70.1%) than participants who did not receive a postdischarge call (30.2%; \u3c .001). CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study may help to drive future transitional care strategies for individuals diagnosed with HF. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Nurse-led transitional care interventions offer potential solutions to ensure safe, effective hospital discharges

Effectiveness of a thoracic multidisciplinary clinic in the treatment of stage III non-small-cell lung cancer.

INTRODUCTION: The Institute of Medicine, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the European Society of Medical Oncology promote a multidisciplinary approach for the treatment of cancer. Stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) represents a heterogeneous group of diseases necessitating coordination of care among medical, radiation, and surgical oncology. The optimal care of stage III NSCLC underscores the need for a multidisciplinary approach. METHODS: From tumor registry data, we identified all cases of stage III NSCLC seen at Lehigh Valley Health Network between March 2010 and March 2013. The care received by patients when seen in the thoracic multidisciplinary clinic (MDC) was compared with the care received when not seen in the thoracic MDC. RESULTS: All patients seen in the MDC, compared to CONCLUSION: Multidisciplinary care is essential in the treatment of patients with stage III NSCLC. Greater utilization of MDCs for this complex group of patients will result in more efficient coordination of care, pretreatment evaluation, and therapy, which in turn should translate to improve patients\u27 outcomes