Summary: Maryland's Hospital Preventable Readmissions program rewards efforts that reduce hospital readmissions while improving care quality and decreasing cost. Dianne Feeney, associate director of quality initiatives for the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC), describes HSCRC's response to hospitals that claim they can't afford the empty beds that result from programs like these, as well as processes to help ensure that higher-risk patients are not refused admittance to hospitals. She also explains how partnerships with "siloed settings" --- nursing homes and home health providers --- can reduce common errors that occur during patient handoffs. Feeney and Dr. Randall Krakauer, national medical director, Medicare at Aetna, examined how to structure programs to reduce avoidable hospital readmissions, including the alignment of financial incentives, during the December 2, 2009 webinar, "Aligning Reimbursement To Reduce Avoidable Hospital Readmissions."
