Do home care nursing services reduce hospital readmissions within 90 days in patients discharged with a primary diagnosis of congestive heart failure?
Home care nursing services are associated with a significant reduction in 90-day hospital readmissions for patients discharged with congestive heart failure.
Patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) constitute a substantial portion of the caseloads of home care agencies. Home care is one strategy suggested for delaying or preventing hospital readmissions. This study examined the relationship between home care nursing services and hospital readmissions after 1176 discharges of patients with a primary diagnosis of CHF. It also described the home nursing care of such patients. Findings indicate that patients receiving home care nursing services were readmitted to the hospital significantly less often within a period of 90 days after hospital discharge.
Martens et al. (Sat,) studied this question.