OBJECTIVES To evaluate readmission rates and associated factors to identify potentially preventable readmissions. BACKGROUND The decision to penalize hospitals for readmissions is compelling health care systems to develop processes to minimize readmissions. Research to identify preventable readmissions is critical to achieve these goals. METHODS We performed a retrospective review of Univer...

To The Editor: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) view readmission for any reason after an index hospitalization for heart failure as a sign of poor quality of care. “From the patient perspective, readmission from any cause is an adverse event.”1 Little consideration has been given, however, to a potential association between readmissions and mortality, an outcome that is of p...

BACKGROUND The rate of total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) is rising, which has an impact on health care expenditure. One avenue to mitigate cost is outpatient TSA. There are currently no published reports of this practice. In this study, we determine the 30-day adverse event and readmission rates after outpatient TSA and compare these rates with inpatient TSA. METHODS A retrospective cohort st...

BACKGROUND As of October 1, 2012, hospitals in the United States with excess readmissions based on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) risk-adjusted ratio began being penalized. Given the impact of high readmission rates to hospitals nationally, it is important for individual hospitals to identify which patients may be at highest risk of readmission. The objective of this study...

BACKGROUND Readmissions after radical cystectomy are common, burdensome, and poorly understood. For these reasons, the authors conducted a population-based study that focused on the causes of and time to readmission after radical cystectomy. METHODS Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare data, at total of 1782 patients who underwent radical cystectomy from 2003 through 200...

BACKGROUND Readmission rates of psychiatric inpatients are higher in South Korea than other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. In addition, the solution for readmission control is deficient based on the characteristics of the South Korean National Health Insurance (NHI) system. Therefore, it is necessary to identify ways to reduce psychiatric inpatient read...

OBJECTIVES To describe readmissions among children hospitalized with H1N1 (influenza subtype, hemagglutinin1, neuraminidase 1) pandemic influenza and secondarily to determine the association of oseltamivir during index hospitalization with readmission. METHODS We reviewed data from 42 freestanding children's hospitals contributing to the Pediatric Health Information System from May through De...

OBJECTIVE Hospital readmission is a common but controversial quality measure increasingly used to influence hospital compensation in the US. The objective of this study was to evaluate the causes for 30-day hospital readmission following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) to determine the appropriateness of this performance metric and to identify potential avenues for improved patient car...

STUDY DESIGN A retrospective cohort review. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to investigate whether preoperative malnutrition is an independent risk factor for unplanned 30-day readmission after elective spine surgery. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Thirty-day hospital readmission rate is being used as a proxy for quality of care. Accordingly, hospitals and health systems are investing consid...

BACKGROUND Readmissions to hospital are common, costly and often preventable. An easy-to-use index to quantify the risk of readmission or death after discharge from hospital would help clinicians identify patients who might benefit from more intensive post-discharge care. We sought to derive and validate an index to predict the risk of death or unplanned readmission within 30 days after dischar...