preventing going back to the hospital
By mor
@stringer321 (5682)
Kiryat Ata, Israel
December 10, 2011 6:25am CST
I read a random article from ahrq.gov that is about hospital re-addmission and how to prevent an unplanned re-visiting the hospital.
This article is from www.ahrq.gov/consumer/cc/cc110309.htm
It is a short and friendly article with many links to expand your important knowledge that can save your money from paying the hospital for a visit you don't really need and can prevent.
Do you know how does it feel like taking the car to the garage soon after you took it to get fixed ? it costs money and it feels like a storm on a sunny day.
It is the same as going back to the hospital only a few days after being sent home from there.
The article gives a usefull links to compare many hospitals with the re-addmissions rate. The re-addmission rate gives some clues about how well the patients are being treated and some other aspects like how much information about their own condition they get. Another link is to check your hospital performance : it has information about how hospitals treat patients and compare about 4,000 different hospitals.
Another link is ratings patients gave to the care they got.
Some good news in this article is that many of the re-admission can be prevented if you take some steps like :
1)asking questions about your condition and some other things around (there is also a link to what questions one should ask)
2)making an appointment with your primary care doctor after being sent home from the hospital
3) ask questions about your medicines and their side effects , what medicine you must stop take and what are must take.
I have some information or an opinion you want to share about that article or if you have something to say about this subject , I will be happy to discuss about it.
2 responses
@Annrose21 (161)
•
11 Dec 11
All of us does not want to be admitted or re-admitted in a hospital. Not just we don't want diseases but we also don't like to spend our money for hospital bills and medicines. This can be prevented by a healthy lifestyle and your knowledge about your and your family's health. If someone thinks that he was experiencing slight discomforts, just don't immediately consider a check-up, have a little research on your signs and symptoms, who knows this might be just a normal and simple phenomenon on your body, except for any obvious serious diseases and condition. If being re-admitted in hospital cannot be prevented, you have a choice of hospital that you will be cared in. If you want cheaper yet effective care, go to any public hospital,they provide some free and less expensive care and service than being admitted to private hospitals. Besides, they provide the same care if you are not being choosy.
@stringer321 (5682)
• Kiryat Ata, Israel
11 Dec 11
Thanks for sharing. Doing a research is also important. Since information is available on the internet , it can be usefull to do some research , but , asking the doctor can give information too.
I think a good hospital must provide all of the information to all of the questions that are at questions section at ahrq.gov I mentioned sooner. The problem is that not every hospital gives that information automatically. Many people think the hospital do all of what it needs to do and on the best side.
Don't forget there are also statistics available about the re-admission rates of the hospitals , as the article say.
Like ahrq say in some section , "questions are the answer" , it means that asking questions is a good solution to prevent problems.
Thanks for sharing here , if you find some more usefull facts from the article , I will be happy to know.
@marguicha (230350)
• Chile
10 Dec 11
There are many differences in health care in different parts of the world, friend. I have cancer and in my country my cancer is covered partly by the government. For the rest there´s an insurance we must all pay that is only for very expensive illness. That insurance has a deductible that depends on your health plan. So poor people get it free or almost.
I have an appointment to my oncologist next Tuesday and the only thing Ill pay is the needle to get blood for my blood count. The tests and doctor will cost me nothing.
@stringer321 (5682)
• Kiryat Ata, Israel
10 Dec 11
Thanks for sharing , marguicha.
preventing an unplanned re admission in the hospital is very important and not only for the money saving. It's also for you feelings and security and time.
Although the differences in health care in different parts of the world , there are still some steps that you can do to prevent an unplanned visit at the hospital.
You can ask questions like:
why do I need this treatment ?
are there any alternatives ?
are there any side effects ?
which hospital is best for my needs ?
(and some more questions , it's all from www.ahrq.gov/questions/ )
you can also do the other steps that are included at the article.
