When Patients Leave the Hospital, a Healthier Transition

Host: Jack Lewin, MD Guest: Donald Berwick, MD, MPP There are several prominent points of disagreement in today's health reform debate, but one area of general accord involves hospital readmissions: we can (and must) do much better in coordinating the transition and follow-up process for admissions and readmissions — and, if executed properly, this will improve outcomes for our patients. As we embark on a campaign to reduce unnecessary readmissions, Dr. Donald M. Berwick, president and chief executive officer for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), joins host Dr. Jack Lewin for an important conversation about the Hospital-to-Home (H2H) campaign, co-sponsored by IHI and the American College of Cardiology, to apply scientifically-based protocol to keep patients healthy at home once they leave the hospital. Dr. Berwick says the shift won't come by simply telling hospital staff to work harder; instead, we need to use the hard evidence we have to change the paradigm for transition and follow-up care.