Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cost of Health Care, Hand Washing, Health Care Systems, JAMA, UCSF / 07.03.2016
Only about 25% of Hospital Readmissions are Preventable
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Andrew Auerbach MD
Professor of Medicine in Residence
Director of Research Division of Hospital Medicine
UCSF and
Jeffrey L. Schnipper, MD, MPH
Associate Physician, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Department of Medicine
Brigham and Women's Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The Affordable Care Act required the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a program to reduce what has been dubbed a “revolving door of re-hospitalizations.” Effective October 2012, 1 percent of every Medicare payment was deducted for a hospital that was determined to have excessive readmissions. This percentage has subsequently increased to up to 3 percent. Penalties apply to readmitted Medicare patients with some heart conditions, pneumonia, chronic lung disease, and hip and knee replacements.
Unfortunately, few data exist to guide us in determining how many readmissions are preventable, and in those cases how they might have been prevented.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: Our main findings were that 27 percent of readmissions were preventable, and that the most common contributors to readmission were being discharged too soon, poor coordination between inpatient and outpatient care providers, particularly in the Emergency Departments and in arranging post acute care.
(more…)