The policy chosen for this discussion was the Hospital readmissions reduction program (HRRP). Working in the emergency department we see our share of people who are re-admitted into the hospital for distinct reasons. Finding ways to reduce this number can allow for a healthier community and a longer quality of living. It will also of course reduce the number of returns after discharge to the hospital, which will leave more room for unavoidable health concerns instead of preventable ones. This is why it is essential to determine its effectiveness and how social factors can impact this problem.

This program is organized by the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). To determine the effectiveness of this project they issue a payment reduction that depends on the hospital’s performance during a certain period. This reduction helps decrease hospital payments which gets applied to Medicare’s fee-for service base operating diagnosis-related group payments at a reduction payment that is capped at three percent. The way the achieve this is by monitoring and sending and annual report to the hospital. Giving the hospital a chance to question and review the report before getting paid (Hospital readmissions and reduction program, n.d.).

Plans and programs such as this one allows for hospital accountability. It also gives the facility a reason to ensure and educate patients in ways to decrease the chance for readmission. Society is entitled to understand the true meaning of becoming part of their rehabilitation process. This will give them tools and confidence that they need to be successful in their healthcare goals and outcomes. Once we understand how this affects our community, we can create better plans on how to resolve this ongoing issue.

Studies show that the group of people most affected by hospital readmissions are the elderly and those with other comorbidities such as chronic heart failure (Turrise et al., 2023). Research has also shown that factors such as elderly socioeconomics play a crucial role in the success of this circle of individuals. For example, family presence, risk for falls, nutrition and having other comorbidities are great determinants for these members of society to reach their goals and reduce readmission numbers (Cilla et al., 2023). Relying on this and other evidenced based research and studies is how we can ensure policies like this one can be utilized to their potential (Salcido, 2014). These can also make sure we are putting policies and regulations into practice and at same time keeping our communication