Study Calls for New Look at Hospital Readmissions

A new study found that it might be time to rethink penalizing hospitals for high 30-day readmission rates for several conditions. Instead, a seven-day readmission cutoff provides a better picture of quality, the researchers say.

Published in Annals of Internal Medicine this week, the study led by researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center looked at readmission records for 822 patients treated at 10 academic medical centers in the U.S. For each readmission, two site-specific physician adjudicators used a structured survey instrument to determine whether it was preventable and measured other characteristics.

The study found that early readmissions were twice as likely to be preventable as late readmissions for six conditions: heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hip/knee replacement, and coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

The researchers found that 36.2% of early readmissions compared to 23% of late readmissions were preventable. Hospitals were identified as better locations for preventing early readmissions, while outpatient clinics and home care were better for preventing late readmissions.