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

Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries.¹ The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 established the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), which initially targeted readmissions from HF, acute myocardial infarction, and pneumonia. The HRRP involved public reporting of hospitals’ 30-day risk-standardized readmission rates and created financial penalties for hospitals with higher readmissions. The penalties went into effect in fiscal year 2013 (October 2012) following a penalty-free implementation phase of public reporting of risk-standardized mortality rates from the time of passage of the law in March 2010 to September 2012. Excess HF readmissions have been the dominant driver of penalties in the HRRP.²