Frequent, potentially avoidable readmissions are major driver of pediatric health care costs
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 17:00
in Health & Medicine
Hospital readmissions are increasingly viewed as an indicator of quality of care. If patients receive appropriate discharge care planning and coordinated outpatient follow-up when leaving the hospital, they should transition safely home without the need to return to the hospital. n a retrospective study of inpatient records at 37 free-standing children's hospitals between 2003 and 2008, nearly 20 percent of admissions and one-quarter of inpatient expenditures ($3.4 billion) were accounted for by a small group (2.9 percent) of patients who were readmitted to the same hospital four or more times within a one year period, according to a study in the February 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.