Can Risk Models or Patient Factors Predict Readmission of Heart Failure Patients?

Readmission after hospitalization for heart failure is common and varies widely among hospitals. Understanding the factors that predict readmission could improve both clinical care (by identifying patients who would benefit the most from intensive interventions to prevent readmission) and policy (by informing statistical models to characterize institutional performance). These investigators conducted a systematic review of published models for predicting readmission risk after heart failure hospitalization and studies of patient factors associated with such readmission.

Of the 117 published studies included in the analysis, the vast majority (112, or 95.7%) examined the relations between specific patient characteristics and readmission. None…