Surgeons tackle readmission risk reduction
AT THE ASA ANNUAL MEETING
He noted with frustration that he had just stepped out of the lecture hall to arrange for readmission of a patient 1 week after discharge post pancreaticoduodenectomy.
"I made three phone calls myself to that guy trying to nurse him through his nausea and vomiting and other symptoms," the surgeon recalled.
Dr. Pawlik was sympathetic.
"It’s very hard to prevent readmissions. It’s a very complicated metric, and many would argue that it’s an inappropriate quality metric," he said. "Many things are outside our control before we even meet the patient, as are some things that occur in the hospital, and many things are beyond our control after discharge as far as where they live, their family structure, and their financial resources. In my opinion it’s a very problematic quality measure and I am not sure how we are going to tackle it."
He reported having no conflicts of interest.
