Easing the Transition From Hospital to Home

So it’s an exciting time for this new field, McCauley says. The question is, will decision makers think for the short term or the long term? Thorpe estimates it would take an initial investment of $25 to $30 billion to put teams of clinicians in place to provide transitional care for the entire Medicare program. On the other hand, that investment would pay for itself within the first year. And it would bring significant savings for every year after that, according to the NEJM article.

“We’ve got to pay attention to these transitions,” McCauley says. “Because this kind of revolving door—from hospital to home back to hospital—is bad for patients, it’s bad for hospitals, and it’s bad for health care in general.”