As the number of U.S. hospitals facing financial penalties for too many readmissions is rising, Hereford Regional Medical Center is bucking the trend with a stellar 0.003 percent readmission rate for Medicare patients so far in 2023. That mark is well below the national average of 14.5 percent.

The hospital has invested in numerous initiatives to keep patients on track to recover once they leave the hospital. From discharge planning that begins at the moment of hospital admission to the community paramedicine program that provides follow-up home visits, everyone in the clinic, EMS, and hospital has a role to play to help our patients avoid a return trip to the hospital.

“We’re extremely encouraged by our low readmission rate that signals our efforts to keep our patients on track for recovery once they leave our hospital are working,” said Deaf Smith County Hospital District interim CEO Candice Smith, MSN, RHCNOC, CCRN. “Our commitment to our community’s health goes well beyond just the walls of the hospital.”

With an already low readmission rate of 5.4 percent in 2022 to a less than one percent rate so far this year, Hereford Regional Medical Center is continually improving and setting a new standard for what is possible in rural health care. The number of hospitals expected to incur penalties of less than 1 percent is expected to rise 3 percent in 2024.

More About Hospital Readmissions

Every year since 2012, the federal government penalizes hospitals they deem to have too many hospital readmissions of Medicare patients with specific diagnoses: heart failure, heart attacks, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery bypass grafts, and knee and hip replacements.

Readmissions occur when a patient is discharged from the hospital but returns within 30 days because he or she isn’t getting better, and the government takes up to 3 percent of hospitals’ Medicare payments as a penalty for these readmissions.

Reducing readmissions doesn’t just benefit patients who avoid readmission, it benefits the hospital as a whole by avoiding financial penalties that could impact the hospital’s ability to provide care.

Learn more about the community paramedicine program and our approach to providing exceptional patient care.