Economic evaluation of hospital-to-home transition interventions: a rapid review protocol

BackgroundTransitions from hospital to home represent a critical juncture associated with hospital readmissions and increased healthcare costs. While interventions exist to improve care transitions, the economic value of these interventions remains limited. By synthesizing economic evaluations of transition interventions, healthcare systems can identify cost-effective strategies to reduce costs and readmission rates to improve outcomes for patients and providers. Objectives1) Identify the types of economic analyses commonly applied in hospital-to-home evaluations; 2) summarize the financial implications and economic value of these interventions; 3) compare the costs and cost-effectiveness of interventions across care settings and patient populations. MethodsWe will conduct a rapid review to summarize existing literature on the cost-effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving hospital-to-home transitions. We will search electronic databases (Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL) to identify studies assessing the economic impact of transition interventions on patient and health system outcomes. We will focus on economic studies, including cost studies, cost-consequence analyses, cost-minimization analyses, cost-effectiveness analyses, cost-benefit analyses, or cost-utility analyses, to understand the economic value of these interventions for both healthcare systems and patients. ImplicationEvidence on the economic benefits of hospital-to-home interventions can guide efficient and sustainable resource allocation in healthcare systems. Investing in sustainable transition interventions has the potential to lower overall healthcare expenditures while enhancing patient satisfaction and improving health outcomes. We hypothesize that this review will reveal that targeted strategies, such as enhanced discharge planning and home-based discharge supports, can achieve significant cost savings by reducing hospital readmissions and improving patient adherence to post-discharge care plans.