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Transitional Care Program in Reducing Acute Hospital Utilization in Singapore

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: (1) Background: The evidence to support transitional care in reducing acute hospital utilization is variable. Despite changes in the healthcare landscape with a rapidly aging population, there is a lack of local and regional studies to evaluate the effectiveness of transitional home care programs. This study investigates whether a transitional home care program delivered by an acute tertiary hospital can reduce acute hospital utilization. (2) Methods: A pre-post design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. A total of 2004 enrolments from 1679 unique patients that fulfilled the criteria of enrolment were included. The transitional care program is delivered through telephone follow-up and home visits. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was used to assess the differences between the three periods of baseline, enrolment, and post-enrolment. (3) Results: All 2004 enrolments were analyzed. The re-attendances at the emergency department reduced significantly by 31.2% and 71.9% during enrolment and post-enrolment (p < 0.001), respectively. Similarly, patients had a 38.7% and 76.2% reduction in hospital admissions during enrolment and post-enrolment (p < 0.001), respectively. For patients who were admitted, there was no significant difference in the length of stay between these groups (p = 0.23). (4) Conclusions: The transitional home care program can effectively reduce emergency department re-attendances and inpatient admissions. Not only was the total number of emergency department re-attendances reduced significantly, but the number of frequent re-attendances also dropped significantly. The outcomes were consistent during COVID-19 and post-pandemic phases. These findings can be used as a guide in program planning and future scalability.

Source: Healthcare

DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12212144

Authors: Chong Yau Ong, Jun Jie Angus Ng, Kar Kwan Sandra Joanne Ng, Pei Yoke Tay, Mui Hua Jean Lee

Institutions: Sengkang General Hospital, Nanyang Technological University

Language: English

Topic: Hospital Admissions and Outcomes

Subfield: Emergency Medicine

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,069