Hotspotting in home health: The impact of interprofessional student-team home visits on readmission rates of super-utilizers of the health care system

Studies have shown the impact of interprofessional education (IPE) on health professions students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes and, to some extent, its impact on patient and organizational outcomes. This retrospective quasi-experimental study explored the impact of home visits by teams of interprofessional health professions students on the readmission rates of patients recently discharged from the hospital. Patients (20 in the intervention group, 20 in the control group) were in the care of one home health agency during a 7-month period. The patient groups were similar in terms of gender (55% male, 45% female) and age (mean about 73). The model implemented in this study, referred to as hotspotting, is designed to improve patient outcomes, decrease readmissions, and decrease costs. Twelve student participants included two pharmacy, three public health, three occupational therapy, three nursing, and one medical student. Student teams performed 32 total visits. There was a significant difference between the 30-day hospital readmission rate for the intervention group and the 30-day hospital readmission rate for the control group (ᵡ²&nbsp;=&nbsp;4.286, <em>df&nbsp;</em>=&nbsp;1, <em>p</em> =&nbsp;.038). While limited by sample size, this study warrants a closer examination of hotspotting in home health as an effective way to improve patient outcomes and decrease costs.