A Patient Navigator Intervention to Reduce Hospital Readmissions among High-Risk Safety-Net Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Evidence-based interventions to reduce hospital readmissions may not generalize to resource-constrained safety-net hospitals.

Objective

To determine if an intervention by patient navigators (PNs), hospital-based Community Health Workers, reduces readmissions among high risk, low socioeconomic status patients.

Design

Randomized controlled trial.

Participants

General medicine inpatients having at least one of the following readmission risk factors: (1) age ≥60 years, (2) any in-network inpatient admission within the past 6 months, (3) length of stay ≥3 days, (4) admission diagnosis of heart failure, or (5) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The analytic sample included 585 intervention patients and 925 controls.

Interventions

PNs provided co

SUBMITTER: Balaban RB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4471016 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature