By Win Whitcomb

Hospital-based specialists, generalists (e.g., hospitalists), and surgeons participating in bundled payment programs have tremendous influence over the quality and costs of patient care inside the four walls of the hospital. While many interventions also have effects after discharge, others have more limited post-acute impact. All things being equal, physicians should focus their in-hospital efforts on practices that have a positive effect on patients after they leave the hospital. For example, holding goals of care conversations, early mobilization, prompt discontinuation of urinary and central venous catheters, and asking discharge planners “Why not home?” are but a few of many practices that may improve healthcare value during the post-acute period. In the linked article, I describe how practices that represent ‘thinking outside the DRG’, or outside the inpatient stay, may improve patient care during recovery from a hospitalization.

Read my article on The Hospitalist.