Do Readmission Rates for Common Conditions Reflect Broader Hospital-Wide Performance?

Current readmission measures do not translate to unreported patient populations and conditions.

Before 2015, hospitals were penalized financially for higher-than-expected 30-day readmissions for Medicare beneficiaries who were hospitalized for heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, or pneumonia; since 2015, several other conditions have been added. In this cross-sectional study, U.S. researchers used a nationwide all-payer database of 2013–2014 information on patients (of all ages) in 2000 hospitals to determine whether these condition-specific measures (Medicare-reported group) reflect readmission rates for two other groups: (1) non-Medicare patients hospitalized for the same three conditions (non-Medicare group) and (2) Medicare patients hospitalized for conditions other than the three specified ones (Medicare-other-conditions …

Reviewing Author

Andrew S. Parsons, MD, MPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardNEJM Healer Advisory Group; Aquifer Clinical Excellence; NBME Clinical Reasoning

Grant/Research SupportSouthern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA)

Editorial BoardsDiagnosis

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesUndergraduate Medical Education (UME) Section Chair, Southern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA); Chair of Early Career Physicians, American College of Physicians (ACP), Virginia Chapter

Andrew S. Parsons, MD, MPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardNEJM Healer Advisory Group; Aquifer Clinical Excellence; NBME Clinical Reasoning

Grant/Research SupportSouthern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA)

Editorial BoardsDiagnosis

Do Readmission Rates for Common Conditions Reflect Broader Hospital-Wide Performance?

Topics

Reviewing Author