Home Health & Hospice Week

Looking to reduce hospital readmissions for your patients? Consider the findings of a new study in the journal Health Affairs.

A study led by a University of North Carolina researcher compared admissions and health spending for "nutritionally vulnerable patients" receiving both "medically tailored" meal delivery and "nontailored" meals. "Compared with matched nonparticipants, participants had fewer emergency department visits in both the medically tailored meal program and the nontailored food program," says the abstract published in the April issue. "Participants in the medically tailored meal program also had fewer inpatient admissions and lower medical spending. Participation in the nontailored food program was not associated with fewer inpatient admissions but was associated with lower medical spending," the abstract continues.

Conclusion: "These findings suggest the potential for meal delivery programs to reduce the use of costly health care and decrease spending for vulnerable patients," maintains the abstract, available at www.healthaffairs.org/doi/pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0999.