The Efficacy of Written Information Intervention in Reduction of Hospital Re-admission Cost in Patients With Heart Failure; A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of written information versus non written information intervention in reducing hospital readmission cost, if prescribed or presented to the patients with HF. METHODS The study was a systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched Medline (Ovid) and Cochrane library during the past 20 years from 1993 to 2013. We also conducted a manual search through Google Scholar and a direct search in the group of related journals in Black Well and Science Direct trough their websites. Two reviewers appraised the identified studies, and meta-analysis was done to estimate the mean saving cost of patient readmission. All the included studies must have been done by randomization to be eligible for study. RESULT We assessed the full-texts 3 out of 65 studies with 754 patients and average age of 74.33. The mean of estimated saving readmission cost in intervention group versus control group was US $2751 (95% CI: 2708 - 2794) and the mean of total saving cost in intervention group versus control group was US $2047 (base year 2010) with (95% CI: 2004 - 2089). No publication bias was found by testing the heterogeneity of studies. CONCLUSION One of the effective factors in minimizing the healthcare cost and preventing from hospital re-admission is providing the patients with information prescription in a written format. It is suggested that hospital management, Medicare organizations, policy makers and individual physicians consider the prescription of appropriate medical information as the indispensable part of patient's care process.