Posted Nov. 27, 2009

A study of 136 congestive heart failure patients at Griffin Hospital, Derby, CT, demonstrates, according to the investigators, that educating patients about post-discharge requirements may delay readmission.  The study tested the effectiveness of an inpatient congestive heart failure intervention compared to usual care among the hospital's inpatients. 

More specifically, a nurse educator used the "teach back" method to educate patients about post-discharge requirements. The method simply asks patients to repeat in their own words what they must do when they leave the hospital, which allows the educator to check the patient's understanding of medical instructions provided.

Congestive heart failure patients, who account for more hospitalizations among older individuals and Medicare patients than any other medical diagnosis, were equally divided into a control and intervention group.  Using the "teach back" method, the average readmission time for the intervention group was 130 days, compared to 82 days for the control group, which did not use the method.

The study's results "clearly document the benefits of using the 'teach back' method in helping patients understand their discharge instructions and keeping them out of the hospital longer," says Dorothea Wild, MD, the study's principal investigator.  "Results related to congestive heart failure patients can be extrapolated to patients with other diseases who are readmitted because of their failure to follow discharge and care instructions."

Research demonstrates patients recall and comprehend less than half of what clinicians explain to them and fewer than half understand written medication instructions. Patients with limited health literacy struggle with written documents and report trouble with oral communications from clinicians.  

Griffin's study "combined a rigorous scientific approach with Griffin's patient-centered Planetree care model: empowering patients to be a partner in their care," Wild explains. "Our study shows if you tailor patient education to health literacy, it benefits the patient and reduces the need for hospitalization."

Griffin was supported by the Connecticut Health Foundation, the state's largest independent health philanthropy, which awarded a $50,000 grant in February 2007 to fund the health literacy in congestive heart failure patient study.