Fourteen U.S. communities have been chosen for CMS' Care Transitions pilot to eliminate unnecessary hospital readmissions. The project, to continue through summer 2011, will promote "seamless transitions" from hospital to home, skilled nursing care or home health care to keep patients from returning to the hospital for ongoing care needs. The communities include Providence, R.I.; Upper Capitol Region, N.Y.; western Pennsylvania; southwestern New Jersey; metro Atlanta East; Miami; Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Evansville, Ind.; greater Lansing, Mich.; Omaha, Neb.; Baton Rouge, La.; northwest Denver; Harlingen, Texas; and Whatcom County, Wash.
"Our data show that nearly one in five patients who leave the hospital today will be readmitted within the next month, and that more than three-quarters of these readmissions are potentially preventable," said CMS Acting Administrator Charlene Frizzera.