IHI Updates 4 How-to Guides for Improving Transitions of Care

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released data last week suggesting that approximately one-third of hospitals in the United States will soon be financially penalized for having failed to lower unacceptable readmission rates. To encourage innovation in addressing this challenge, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement has published updated versions of four How-to Guides aimed at improving transitions in care.

The How-to Guides were developed through the STAAR (STate Action on Avoidable Rehospitalizations) initiative, a collaboration of IHI and The Commonwealth Fund. The free guides, which focus on transitions from the hospital to community settings, office practices, skilled nursing facilities and home health care, include new case studies, tools and explanations of developments like newly created billing codes for transitional care management.