Background: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) started penalizing hospitals with “excess” 30-day readmissions, as determined by observed-to-expected ratio, for patients discharged after treatment for an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). An understanding of modifiable determinants of 30-day readmission will likely help in developing interventions to reduce preventable AECOPD readmissions. [...]

Background: Hospitals are incentivized to reduce 30-day readmissions under the Affordable Care Act. Medicare payments can be reduced when inpatient readmissions are excessive. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) readmission measure is defined among encounters classified with only an inpatient status. At this time, observation encounters are not included in this measure. This [...]

Background: Health care expenditures in the United States have been increasing exponentially while hospital care accounts for one-third of the costs. Approximately 18% of hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries are being readmitted within 30 days following their discharge. As a quality measure, penalties for high readmission rates are inversely affecting the reimbursements.  Currently, research on the factors [...]

Background: Cardiac readmissions are an ever expanding burden spanning from patients, to hospitals, all the way up to the national healthcare system. Currently, there is a lack of consensus regarding appropriate inpatient screening tests for identifying patients at high risk for readmission, as well as peri-hospitalization disease management regimens aiming to prevent readmissions. Our clinical [...]

Background: Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center is a 340 bed facility in Northern California.  Reducing readmissions has been a focus, and the current observed over expected rate is 0.77.  Starting from this relatively low readmission rate, our focus has been optimizing care for patients at high risk of readmission. A retrospective review of all patients [...]

Background: Medical patients with comorbid psychiatric illness comprise 20-40% of general medicine inpatient admissions. These patients often have multiple providers involved in their care which can lead to poor communication, longer lengths of stay, and increased resource utilization. Despite substantial need, no standard model of care exists for this patient population. At our academic medical [...]

Background: In 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a guide to preventing readmissions among diverse patient populations. According to CMS, once the health system effectively picks up the root causes and characteristics that are linked to readmissions – then a process can be initiated that focuses on addressing barriers and developing [...]

Background: It has been detailed in the literature that a patient’s socioeconomic status (SES) may play a role in their risk of readmission for specific diseases. For instance, factors such as low income, low educational level, and Medicaid status have all been associated with significantly higher rates of readmission in patients initially admitted for congestive [...]

Background: Financial readmission penalties hold hospitals responsible for 30-day readmissions regardless of whether the patient was readmitted to another hospital.  Emerging evidence suggests patients readmitted to non-index hospitals may experience higher mortality rates.  Hospitals with large proportions of patients readmitted elsewhere may need to alter their approach to these readmissions, but how often patients are [...]

Background: Readmissions after hospitalisation are a healthcare quality indicator and carry considerable financial penalties in some healthcare systems. Internationally, readmission rates at 28 – 30 days for medical inpatients range between 10 – 22%. However there is almost no information available around readmissions for medical inpatients in the Middle East region. We conducted a pilot [...]