Reducing Readmissions by Working Across Facilities

Based on the consultant's recommendations, Lee Memorial's (Fort Myers, Fla.) senior management determined it needed a comprehensive approach for decreasing readmissions that reached beyond the four walls of the hospital. After investigating different options, Lee Memorial decided to largely model its program after Dr. Eric Coleman's Care Transitions Program and sent several staffers to the Coleman program in the Division of Health Care Policy and Research at the University of Colorado's School of Medicine. It also incorporated elements of other programs, including Project Red and BOOST.