A Qualitative Exploration of the Discharge Process and Factors Predisposing to Readmissions to the ICU

A Qualitative Exploration of the Discharge Process and Factors Predisposing to Readmissions to the ICU

Severe illness predisposes ICU patients to readmission, especially when goals of care were not adequately addressed. Communication, premature discharge, and other factors, mostly unrelated to the patient were also perceived... read more

Postoperative Pain Predicts 30-day Readmission

Postoperative Pain Predicts 30-day Readmission

Postoperative pain trajectories identify populations at risk for 30-day readmissions and ED visits, and do not seem to be mediated by postdischarge complications. Addressing pain control expectations before discharge may... read more

Your plumber offers a money-back guarantee. Should your doctor?

One recommendation is that patients shouldn't have to pay for their care if they experience certain avoidable complications up to 90 days after surgery. A participating hospital would guarantee its work, or patients would... read more

Are hospital readmission penalties a good idea?

Are hospital readmission penalties a good idea?

A closely watched experiment in health care has unfolded over the last few years: Financial incentives for hospitals to reduce readmissions. It was a feature of the Affordable Care Act, and researchers are now assessing its... read more

Association of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program Implementation With Readmission and Mortality Outcomes in Heart Failure

Association of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program Implementation With Readmission and Mortality Outcomes in Heart Failure

Among fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries discharged after heart failure hospitalizations, implementation of the HRRP was temporally associated with a reduction in 30-day and 1-year readmissions but an increase in 30-day... read more

Oral Antibiotics Preferred for Pediatric Pneumonia

Oral Antibiotics Preferred for Pediatric Pneumonia

Children with complicated pneumonia should be discharged from the hospital with oral instead of intravenous (IV) antibiotics when possible, according to a new study. The results showed no significant differences in treatment... read more

Comparison of Postoperative Outcomes Among Patients Treated by Male and Female Surgeons

Comparison of Postoperative Outcomes Among Patients Treated by Male and Female Surgeons

After accounting for patient, surgeon, and hospital characteristics, patients treated by female surgeons had a small but statistically significant decrease in 30 day mortality and similar surgical outcomes (length of stay,... read more

Hospital-Readmission Risk – Isolating Hospital Effects from Patient Effects

Hospital-Readmission Risk – Isolating Hospital Effects from Patient Effects

When the same patients were admitted with similar diagnoses to hospitals in the best-performing quartile as compared with the worst-performing quartile of hospital readmission performance, there was a significant difference... read more

Readmissions for Recurrent Sepsis: New or Relapsed Infection?

Readmissions for Recurrent Sepsis: New or Relapsed Infection?

Sepsis hospitalizations are frequently followed by hospital readmissions, often for recurrent sepsis. However, it is unclear how often sepsis readmissions are for relapsed/recrudescent vs. new infections. The aim of this... read more

Link Between Diabetes and Hospital Readmission Rates

Link Between Diabetes and Hospital Readmission Rates

Patients with diabetes have higher rates of hospital readmission compared with patients without diabetes, according to a pilot study published in Clinical Diabetes and Endocrinology. In the first study, the readmission rate... read more

Sepsis-Associated 30-Day Risk-Standardized Readmissions

Sepsis-Associated 30-Day Risk-Standardized Readmissions

One third of sepsis survivors were readmitted and wide variation exists between hospitals. Several demographic and structural factors are associated with this variation. Measures of higher quality in-hospital care were correlated... read more

Value-Based Reforms and the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program

Value-Based Reforms and the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program

In this longitudinal study of 2837 US hospitals between 2008 and 2015, we found that participation in 1 or more Medicare value-based reforms - including the Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records program, the Accountable... read more

Longer hospital stays may reduce readmissions, study suggests

Longer hospital stays may reduce readmissions, study suggests

A recent study found patients moved to post-acute care facilities have a higher chance of readmission than those kept in the hospital for a longer period of time. Researchers say longer hospital stays may prevent readmission... read more