Decreasing Congestive Heart Failure Readmission Rates Within 30 Days at the Tampa VA

High hospital readmission rates contribute to the problem of escalating costs and fragmented quality in the US health care system. This article describes the implementation of a home telehealth (HT) performance improvement project with subsequent cost-avoidance savings. The HT project was designed to potentiate communication between and among patients, clinicians, and administrative staff, in addition to reducing readmissions for patients with congestive heart failure at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Florida. Pre- and post-HT implementation comparisons were made of readmission rates, costs, and veteran satisfaction from the same 4-month periods in 2012 and 2013. The application of telehealth and phone care initiatives reduced the congestive heart failure hospital readmission rate by 5%, decreased costs, and improved veteran satisfaction with overall care experience.