Caregivers: Program to Target At-Home Care to Cut Back on Repeat Hospitalizations

CaregivingIt’s hard to find a more stunning statistic: Nearly 45 percent of hospitalizations among nursing home residents enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid are avoidable. Because of their complex and chronic health care needs, annual spending for their care is more than $300 billion. The total 2011 costs for avoidable hospitalizations for this group are $7 billion to $8 billion. Now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has a plan to stanch the hemorrhaging of money and unnecessary hospital …