Improving Care and Reducing Hospital Admissions and Costs for High-Risk Patients

A small proportion of patients accounts for a disproportionate share of health care utilization and costs. These patients are at high risk not only for hospitalization but also for readmission to the hospital.

To address these patients’ long-term health needs—and reduce their rate of hospital readmissions—hospitals need to develop new types of interventions.  In 2007, Bellevue Hospital Center (Bellevue), the oldest public hospital in the United States and the cornerstone of the New York City public hospital system (Health and Hospitals Corporation or HHC), launched a pilot study to identify patients at high-risk for readmissions to Bellevue.

In 2009, NYHealth awarded Bellevue a grant to help develop the model at Bellevue and at two additional HHC sites: Elmhurst Hospital Center, in Queens, and Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center, in Brooklyn.