Of all the potential causes for regional differences in readmission rates, overall hospital admission rates were found to play the biggest role, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
For their study, researchers relied on national Medicare data from the first six months of 2008 to calculate 30-day, 60-day and 90-day readmission rates across different U.S. regions.
The results of their analysis showed that readmission rates among regions ranged from 11-32 percent among patients with congestive heart failure and 8-27 percent among those with pneumonia. Although coexisting conditions were associated with higher regional readmission rates, overall hospital admission rates played the biggest role in regional differences in readmission rates. Overall hospital admission rates accounted for 16-24 percent of the variation in cases of congestive heart failure and 11-20 percent for pneumonia cases. No other factor accounted for more than 6 percent of the variation.
Researchers concluded high hospital readmission rates in different regions may have more to do with the overall high use of hospital services in those regions than with the severity of patients' particular conditions or problems in the quality of care during and after hospital discharges.
For their study, researchers relied on national Medicare data from the first six months of 2008 to calculate 30-day, 60-day and 90-day readmission rates across different U.S. regions.
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The results of their analysis showed that readmission rates among regions ranged from 11-32 percent among patients with congestive heart failure and 8-27 percent among those with pneumonia. Although coexisting conditions were associated with higher regional readmission rates, overall hospital admission rates played the biggest role in regional differences in readmission rates. Overall hospital admission rates accounted for 16-24 percent of the variation in cases of congestive heart failure and 11-20 percent for pneumonia cases. No other factor accounted for more than 6 percent of the variation.
Researchers concluded high hospital readmission rates in different regions may have more to do with the overall high use of hospital services in those regions than with the severity of patients' particular conditions or problems in the quality of care during and after hospital discharges.
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