Effectiveness of interventions utilising telephone follow up in reducing hospital readmission within 30 days for individuals with chronic disease: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Rates of readmission to hospital within 30 days are highest amongst those with chronic diseases. Effective interventions to reduce unplanned readmissions are needed. Providing support to patients with chronic disease via telephone may help prevent unnecessary readmission. This systematic review aimed to determine the methodological quality and effectiveness of interventions utilising telephone follow up (TFU) alone or in combination with other components in reducing readmission within 30 days amongst patients with cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes. METHODS: A systematic search of MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library and EMBASE were conducted for articles published from database inception to 19(th) May 2015. Interventions which included TFU alone, or in combination with other components, amongst patients with chronic disease, reported 30 day readmission outcomes and met Effective Practice and Organisation of Care design criteria were included. The titles and abstracts of all identified articles were initially assessed for relevance and rejected on initial screening by one author. Full text articles were assessed against inclusion criteria by two authors with discrepancies resolved through discussion. RESULTS: Ten studies were identified, of which five were effective in reducing readmissions within 30 days. Overall, the methodological quality of included studies was poor. All identified studies combined TFU with other intervention components. Interventions that were effective included three studies which provided TFU in addition to pre-discharge support; and two studies which provided TFU with both pre- and post-discharge support which included education, discharge planning, physical therapy and dietary consults, medication assessment, home visits and a resident curriculum. There was no evidence that TFU and telemedicine or TFU and post-discharge interventions was effective, however, only one to two studies examined each of these types of interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence is inconclusive for the effectiveness of interventions utilising TFU alone or in combination with other components in reducing readmissions within 30 days in patients with chronic disease. High methodological quality studies examining the effectiveness of TFU in a standardised way are needed. There is also potential importance in focusing interventions on enhancing provider skills in patient education, transitional care and conducting TFU. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1650-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.