20 Mar How SMARTKITS™ Help You Avoid Readmission Roadblocks

Few people enjoy spending time in the hospital. It’s unfamiliar surroundings, the food is questionable, and it can be expensive. Once you’re released to go home, the last thing you want is a required readmission. But it happens with alarming frequency. Hospital readmissions occur in about 11% of cases. Here’s why these tend to happen and how SMARTKITS™ from FritzFinn can help you avoid readmission roadblocks. 

Why it’s important to reduce hospital readmissions

Readmissions are costly to everyone — patients, hospitals, employers, and loved ones. They also impact patient health outcomes and overall satisfaction. Even more important, one study revealed that an estimated 27% of hospital readmissions could be prevented with proper communication between healthcare providers and patients. A lot of this has to do with post-surgical wound care. 

What are some common readmission roadblocks?

Some patients are at a higher risk of hospital readmission than others. Some of the most common influencers for hospital readmissions include:

• Specific medical/surgical diagnoses, such as hip replacements
• Post-surgical infection
• Comorbidities, such as diabetes, COPD, and congestive heart failure
• Mental health factors and emotional factors
• Older age
• Level of caregiver and home support
• History of readmissions
• Deficient living conditions
• Older age
• Multiple mediations to manage
• Complex wound care management

Roughly one in 20 hospitalized patients receives treatment for a healthcare-associated infection (HAI). Making the transition from hospital care to home can be a chaotic and stressful process. And it’s even more challenging when the patient and their loved ones aren’t at their best. What they need most is a strategy to help them overcome many of these readmission roadblocks.

How SMARTKITS helps you avoid readmission roadblocks

FritzFinn is a value-added medical products company that set out to make home wound care easier for patients and reduce hospital readmissions at the same time. Their solution is called SMARTKITS, which is an all-in-one daily wound care solution for post-surgical and chronic wounds. 

The way SMARTKITS works is so simple that it virtually eliminates the stress of home wound care. Everything you need for a single wound dressing gets delivered straight to your doorstep. Instead of leaving the hospital with a shopping list of wound care products or multiple bags of items you need to piece together, you receive a simple single-use package that is convenient and effective.

A single SMARTKITS is personalized to your particular wound care needs. It includes gloves, saline for wound irrigation, gauze, a personalized bandage to fit your wound type and size, and collagen dressing.  You also receive detailed wound care instructions. 

Collagen is a vital part of SMARTKITS because it improves patient outcomes. The American College of Surgeons recommends collagen for post-surgical dressing because it maintains wound moisture, decreases inflammation, reduces scarring, and accelerates healing. 

While caring for your wound at home after being released from the hospital isn’t fun, SMARTKITS can make the task simple, convenient, and effective. If you’d like to learn more about using SMARTKITS at home after your upcoming surgery or hospital stay, contact us today for more information about using SMARTKITS for your chronic or post-surgical wound at home.