Medicaid Patients and Hospital Readmissions

NC study cut hospital readmissions among state’s sickest, poorest patients, By John Murawski, August 7, 2013, News and Observer: “A North Carolina study on reducing costly hospital visits cut readmissions by 20 percent among the sickest and poorest patients who are most prone to relying on hospitals for their medical care. The project, believed to be the largest of its kind in the nation, was conducted by Community Care of North Carolina, a Raleigh-based physician-led program that focuses on helping poor people get health care and avoid hospitalization. It involved some 800 nurses and social workers doing intensive follow-ups with Medicaid patients. They sometimes shadowed patients for months to make sure they took their medications, kept their doctor’s appointments and followed all instructions…”