NHS FPX 6008 Assessment 4 Lobbying for Change

Name

Capella university

NHS-FPX 6008 Economics and Decision Making in Health Care

Prof. Name

Date

Lobbying for Change

January 2025
Elizabeth Hertel
Director, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
333 S. Grand Avenue,

Lansing, Michigan 48909

Dear Ms. Hertel,

Hospital readmissions in Detroit, Michigan, are still a problem regarding the economic burden on patients and the overall quality of care for at-risk patients. This is primarily due to limited healthcare accessibility and a high poverty rate (33.8%) (Barker et al., 2023). Frequent rehospitalizations can leave constituents feeling emotionally drained, financially strained, and socially violated. The various communities in Detroit are affected by differences in preventive care and efficient discharge planning. This is one of the essential problems that need to be solved to advance the patients’ outcomes and decrease the pointless healthcare costs in our state.

Reducing readmissions in hospitals will have several positive outcomes, such as better patient health, decreased cost on Medicaid in Michigan, and better hospital performance. These reduced readmissions will enable hospitals to use resources optimally and minimize expenditures for constituents (Dhaliwal & Dang, 2024). In addition, the communities will be economically productive and healthier due to such measures. On the other hand, inaction will continue to cause unnecessary readmissions and increase costs and healthcare premiums for residents. The Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) will financially penalize hospitals while underserved populations will continue to experience poor-quality care (Yang et al., 2022). This cycle will only worsen the pressure on the healthcare facilities, erode the public’s confidence, and harm health in the region.

Decreasing the number of patients who get readmitted to the healthcare facility is a major determinant of the quality of healthcare that patients receive and a factor of sustainable healthcare delivery at different levels. About 20% of Medicaid patients are readmitted within 30 days of the initial discharge, costing between $17 and $26 billion annually (Alvarado et al., 2023). In the state, readmissions can be expensive to Medicaid, thus decreasing the availability of funds for other important services (Psotka et al., 2020). It is identified that an unequal distribution of healthcare facilities and inadequate discharge planning lead to the poor treatment of vulnerable groups of the population in local communities. At the institutional level, readmissions are costly, and they also attract financial fines under the HRRP initiative, which is 3% for fee-for-service organizations (Yang et al., 2022).

NHS FPX 6008 Assessment 4 Lobbying for Change

The proposed plan introduces the Transitional Care Program (TCP), including discharge planning, follow-up care, and culturally appropriate patient education. According to the literature, TCP reduced the readmissions and the cost per admission to $22,439 compared to the control group’s $28,633 (Heo et al., 2023). Ethical values like justice and beneficence were taken into account to provide fair distribution of healthcare and better health results for all groups of people and make financial recompenses proportional to the quality of services offered (Dhaliwal & Dang, 2024). Diversity and cultural competence were applied to meet the needs of various patients, while diversity and cultural competence aimed at adopting healthcare services that respect different cultural values.

In my working practice, the organization of admissions during periods of increased demand also highlighted the issue of the rational use of resources. One of the biggest problems that we had in a previous healthcare organization was that patients were readmitted frequently because of the absence of proper after-discharge care planning. This was attributed to poor discharge planning, leading to increased admissions that were otherwise unnecessary. We improved communication with interdisciplinary teams and patient education. The positive outcomes provided evidence and supported my view on using data analytics for risk mitigation and resource optimization to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs (Golas et al., 2021).

NHS FPX 6008 Assessment 4 Lobbying for Change

From my work experience in discharge planning for a nurse, I conceptual understand resources and realize their necessity for the education of the patients and the organization of subsequent care. This has made me focus on staff collaboration and training as part of the plan. I can prevent potential threats and guarantee stability by understanding these factors.Therefore, please consider changing the transition care more of a priority as it will improve patient outcomes and reduce hospital readmissions and healthcare costs across Michigan. Your support in enacting these changes is crucial for our community’s well-being and the efficiency of our healthcare system. Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

References

Alvarado, M., Lahijanian, B., Zhang, Y., & Lawley, M. (2023). Penalty and incentive modeling for hospital readmission reduction. Operations Research for Health Care, 36, 100376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orhc.2022.100376

Barker, E., Hu, Dr. L., Alaswad , H., Fleming, O., & Klammer, S. (2023). Detroit economic indicators report. Detroitmi.gov.https://detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitmi.localhost/files/2024-04/Q2%202023%20Economic%20Indicators%20Report.pdf

Dhaliwal, J. S., & Dang, A. K. (2024). Reducing hospital readmissions. Nih.gov; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK606114/

Golas, S. B., Nikolova-Simons, M., Palacholla, R., op den Buijs, J., Garberg, G., Orenstein, A., & Kvedar, J. (2021). Predictive analytics and tailored interventions improve clinical outcomes in older adults: A randomized controlled trial. Npj Digital Medicine, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-021-00463-y

Heo, M., Taaffe, K., Ghadshi, A., Teague, L. D., Watts, J. C., Lopes, S., Tilkemeier, P. L., & Litwin, A. H. (2023). Effectiveness of transitional care program among high-risk discharged patients: A quasi-experimental study on saving costs, post-discharge readmissions and emergency department visits. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(23), 7136–7136. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20237136