Readmission Reduction Of 1st Year Transplant Recipients
Abstract Readmission Reduction of 1st Year Transplant Recipients Clear communication with patients at their health-literacy level improves patient outcomes, fosters trust, and is associated with readmission reduction. Readmission of transplant recipients are correlated with morbidity, medical errors, higher healthcare economic costs, and indicative of decreased survival post- transplant. Literature suggests that up to 72% of transplant recipients may have low health literacy increasing risk of readmission. The Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality created the REALM-SF assessment as a tool for medical providers to evaluate a patient’s health literacy status in a timely manner. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project developed a protocol utilizing the REALM-SF tool for systematic communication of health literacy status in the transplant population across multiple service-lines in a large healthcare system. This project implemented two types of evaluations that included education and assessment of staff knowledge of the REALM-SF tool demonstrated through pre and posttests (p-value = 4.8 E-11) followed by the evaluation of staff training through the improvement of readmission metrics. The project compared preliminary readmission results of the implementation phase to raw data during the same time periods of the previous 3 academic calendar years. Preliminary post intervention readmission data suggested improvement compared to prior year data but warrants more evaluation. This DNP project’s outcome suggests that healthcare provider knowledge of patient health literacy and communication at a patient’s level of understanding may positively impact quality of care and health system outcomes by reducing readmission costs.
Communication, Health Literacy, Health system, Readmissions, Transplant
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