Final answer:
The Hospital Readmission Reduction Program is a directive from the ACA, designed to reduce healthcare costs by penalizing hospitals with excessive readmissions and encouraging them to improve patient care.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Hospital Readmission Reduction Program is an example of a directive from the ACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or Obamacare). This program was established to incentivize hospitals to reduce preventable readmissions through penalties on hospitals with higher than expected rates of readmission. This is part of a wider effort by the ACA to control healthcare costs, such as implementing a cap on administrative costs for healthcare providers and mandating a switch to electronic medical records (EMRs), both of which aim to reduce administrative expenses and improve efficiency.