12 Jun Weekend Discharge Not Associated With Higher Rate of Readmission
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jordan M. Cloyd, MD
Department of Surgery
Stanford University
Stanford, California
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Cloyd: The motivation for the study was that, anecdotally, we had noticed that several of our patients who had been discharged on a weekend required readmission for potentially preventable reasons. We wanted to investigate whether the data supported the idea that weekend discharge was associated with a higher risk of hospital readmission.
Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Cloyd: Among patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, colorectal surgery, pancreatectomy and total hip replacement, discharge on a weekend was not associated with a higher rate of hospital readmission. We also found that a significant proportion of patients who required readmission were readmitted to a different hospital than the discharging one.
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Cloyd: Additional research into hospital level factors that reduce the need for readmission will be critical. Furthermore, based on an unexpected finding of our study, we are currently investigating which factors are associated with readmission to a hospital other than the initial, discharging hospital.
Citation:
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:, Dr. rer. nat. Kristin Prehn, Dipl.-Psych., Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Neurology & NeuroCure Clinical Research Cente, & Berlin Germany (2015). Weekend Discharge Not Associated With Higher Rate of Readmission
Last Updated on June 12, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD