{"data":{"id":"us-ri/r.i.-gen.-laws-23-17.26-1","jurisdiction":"us-ri","citation":"R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17.26-1","heading":"Findings.","body":"The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:\n(1) According to data provided by the department of health; in 2009, over 1 in five (5) adults discharged from acute care hospitals in Rhode Island were readmitted within thirty (30) days;\n(2) During that same period, the readmission rate for adults over the age of sixty-five (65) rose to almost thirty percent (30%);\n(3) The issue of hospital readmissions has emerged nationally as a critical focal point for improving quality, ensuring patient safety, and controlling excessive costs;\n(4) Locally, high hospital readmission rates are often due to: missing or incorrect information regarding patients; ill-timed information transfer; medication errors or poor compliance; lack of outpatient follow-up; or lack of follow-up by patients when their symptoms worsen;\n(5) Evidence-based interventions can improve communications systems and patient activation, thus addressing the root causes of hospital readmissions and reducing rates;\n(6) Encouraging best practices in patient discharge and transitions out of hospitals offers significant potential for improving patient care and containing healthcare costs in Rhode Island; and,\n(7) The State of Rhode Island, with the cooperation of the state’s hospitals, has already made significant gains in fostering care coordination and improving quality of care.","path":["Title 23 Health and Safety","Chapter 17.26 Comprehensive Discharge Planning"],"source_url":"https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE23/23-17.26/23-17.26-1.htm","current_through":"site files published 2025-08-13","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T19:56:48Z","sha256":"66c66976afd4e663f941b5c68b60268841691a88cf505837b9e02fc4d7dae91a","source_id":"us-ri","stale":true,"prev":"us-ri/r.i.-gen.-laws-23-17.25-3","next":"us-ri/r.i.-gen.-laws-23-17.26-2"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}