Loading...
Hospitals recently have become subject to fines for “excess readmissions” of patients following discharge after pneumonia, among other diseases, which has inspired new interest in understanding why readmissions occur. Researchers retrospectively reviewed the records of all adults with culture-confirmed bacterial pneumonia admitted to a single U.S. tertiary care hospital during 2010. Of 977 patients, 771 survived to discharge; of these, 149 (19%) were rehospitalized within 30 days. The most common diagnoses at readmission were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 25% and congestive heart failure in 23%; infectious complications prompted only 17% of readmissions, including pneumonia in 7%.
Demographic variables and pneumonia severit…