Higher Hospital Spending on Occupational Therapy Could Save Province of BC $13 Million!

A recent study[1] conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and University of Maryland School of Medicine examined 30-day readmission rates for heart failure, pneumonia, and acute myocardial infarction at over 2,000 American hospitals. Nineteen spending categories were considered (including pharmacy, medical/surgical supplies, physical therapy, OT, speech pathology, etc.).

The researchers found that occupational therapy is the only spending category where additional spending has a statistically significant association with lower readmission rates for all three medical conditions. In addition, researchers noted that for all 3 condition samples, not more than 30% of patients received OT services and spending, and average spending on OT per patient was relatively low ($12-$20). This led the authors to suggest that increasing OT services to reach more patients is a feasible option for hospital CEOs.

As noted by the researchers, occupational therapists focus on whether or not a patient can be safely discharged into his or her environment, and services address a range of factors that affect patient health outside of the hospital (such as ADL needs and social environment). In this way, OT is well-positioned to address risk factors for readmissions.

Read the AOTA news release

What does this mean for BC?

A 2015 study[2] conducted by UBC’s School of Population and Public Health examined readmission rates for 18 BC hospitals for the same three conditions, and estimated that between 2010 and 2013, readmissions cost the province of BC $13 million, not including physician fees. This is in addition to any costs associated with patients unable to access hospital care due to unanticipated readmissions.

This suggests that increased hospital spending on occupational therapy could save the province of BC millions of dollars. 

Read the UBC news release

What can you do?

Spread the word! Share this information with you co-workers, colleagues and supervisors. Tweet, post on Facebook, email …. Whatever works for you. Just make sure to let us know: @caot-bc, caotbc@caot.ca

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[1] Rogers, A. T., Bai, G., Lavin, R. A., & Anderson, G. F. (2016). Higher hospital spending on occupational therapy is associated with lower readmission rates. Medical Care Research and Review, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077558716666981

[2] Hellsten, E., Liu, G., Yue, E., Gao, G., & Sutherland, J. M. (2016). Improving hospital quality through payment reforms A policy impact analysis in British Columbia. Healthcare Management Forum, 29 (1), 33-38.