Introduction

30-day emergency readmission is an indicator of treatment related complication once discharged, resulting in readmission. A board-approved quality improvement pathway was introduced to reduce elective re-admissions.

Method

The pathway involved telephone and email contact details provision to patients for any non-life threatening medical assistance, allowing for initial nurse led management of all issues. A new clinic room available 7 days, and same day ultrasound scanning for DVT studies were introduced. A capability, opportunity and behavior model of change was implemented.

Readmission rates before and six months after implementation were collected from Model Hospital. A database used to document patient communications was interrogated for patient outcomes.