Loading...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program forever changed the landscape of hospital-based care by identifying readmissions as a quality marker and by financially penalizing institutions deemed to have excess readmissions. Although hospital readmissions as a quality measure have been examined, little is known about emergency department (ED) use during the 30 days following hospital discharge (JW Hosp Med Feb 12 2010 and JW Hosp Med Jan 23 2012).
In a prospective study of >5 million adult hospitalizations in three states, 18% of admissions resulted in at least one acute care episode during the 30 days following discharge (40% were ED visits). Patients most often returned to the ED for reasons re…