Planning for postoperative care: A key strategy for reducing readmissions

With the expansion of Medicare readmission penalties to elective total-knee and total-hip arthroplasty patients in 2014 comes an increasing demand for OR leaders to ensure better postdischarge care. To avoid readmissions, OR management will have to be more proactive about reducing length of stay and complications and providing for care transitions—factors that are all intertwined with readmissions. OR Manager spoke with perioperative services leaders at 3 different organizations to learn how they’re incorporating care coordination into their workflows.