Date of Award

2013

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering

Department

Biomedical Engineering

Committee Chair

Mark Lawley

Committee Member 1

Laura Sands

Committee Member 2

Nan Kong

Abstract

Health expenditures in United States have experienced a gradual increase in spending with no indication of slowing down. Addressing this problem has been a major area of concern for policy makers, and as a result more consideration has been placed on decreasing health spending and increasing affordability. One major area recognized as being effective in decreasing these financial burdens has been inpatient thirty-day adult readmissions, currently costing $26 billion annually. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have determined readmissions to be an indicator of the quality and efficiency of patient care.

This research provides a prediction model for patients at `high-risk' of 30-day readmissions patients in rural and urban hospital settings. These results are integrated into a decision support tool that combines the mathematical design, published discharge interventions, and financial model for use by hospital administrators. This tool was created to give `control' back to hospital managers and improve the decision making process in reducing hospital readmission rates. Through this work we show the mathematical model, intervention process work flow, and decision support tool.

Download

Share

COinS