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Patients discharged after acute myocardial infarction (MI), or heart failure (HF) are at considerable risk for postdischarge adverse events and hospital readmissions. In 2012 and 2013, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced Hospital Readmission Reduction and Transitional Care Management programs to incentivize providers financially to improve postdischarge outcomes.
To evaluate trends in postdischarge visits with cardiologists or primary care providers (PCPs) within 30 days, researchers conducted a retrospective study of all Medicare fee-for-service patients who were hospitalized between 2010 and 2019. By the end of the study period, outpatient follow-up visits with either cardiologists or PCPs had improved from 7…