Studies show that 10% of Medicare beneficiary’s early hospital readmissions were preventable. “There were 301,017 readmissions that were clinically related” (Norbert I. Goldfield, 2008) to a previous admission which was classified as be preventable or unnecessary. Statistics show that hospitals that have been effective in creating discharge plans experience lower readmission rates. Although the need for case management services has increased over the last decade, the concept is not new. “Casework originated in the late 1800s under the ideologies of the coordination of human services, conservation of public funds, and care of poor and sick people.” (Hall, Carswell, Walsh, Huber & Jampoler, 2002) However, agencies lost momentum in the early 1900′s only to reemerge during the great depression. “Traditional social work intervention [] focused on [] disadvantaged people who were struggling with basic survival needs”(Hall, Carswell, Walsh, Huber & Jampoler, 2002)
Currently, one in five patients discharged home from an acute care hospital cost Medicare over 17 billion dollars annually. In 2008, “(19.6%) of the 11,855,702 Medicare beneficiaries who had been discharged from a hospital were rehospitalized within 30 days.” (Jencks, Williams, & Coleman, 2009) There is a direct relationship between the rise in readmission rates and a patient’s socioeconomic status. Individuals who live alone, have less than a 12th grade education, low income, chronic or mental ill or have no support system are less likely to comply with their discharge plan. According to the 2008 US Census Report, national educational attainment of the individuals who were non-institutionalized and over 64 years old 3.9 million have 12 or fewer years of education. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008)