Testing Re-Engineered Discharge Program Implementation Strategies in SNFs

The Re-Engineered Discharge (RED) program, designed for hospitals, is being trialed in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) with promising results. This paper reports on the quantitative results of a multimethod study testing two different RED program implementation strategies in SNFs. A pretest-posttest design was used to compare utilization outcomes of two different RED implementation strategies (Enhanced and Standard) and overall group differences in four Midwestern SNFs. In the Standard group there were higher odds of being readmitted in the pre-intervention versus post-intervention period. After adjusting coefficients using Poisson regression, in the pre-intervention period the adjusted number of rehospitalizations for the Standard group was 45% higher at 30 days, 50% higher at 60 days (p = .01), and 39% higher at 180 days (p = .001). SNF RED may be a useful program to reduce rehospitalizations after discharge. Benefit of SNF RED is dependent on degree of adoption of the intervention.