Postdischarge Primary Care Follow-Up of Emergency General Surgery Patients Might Prevent Some Readmissions

Early postdischarge primary care follow-up lowers readmission rates for many medical conditions, including pneumonia and heart failure. In this study, researchers explored the value of primary care follow-up of patients admitted for emergency general surgery conditions. U.S. Medicare databases were used to identify 345,000 beneficiaries (mean age, 74) who were hospitalized for emergency general surgery conditions (e.g., intestinal obstruction, incarcerated hernia, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, diverticulitis with or without perforation). About one third of the total cohort underwent surgery.

Forty-five percent of patients had primary care follow-up within 30 days of discharge. Patients who received early primary care follow-up, compared w…