Preventing 30-Day Hospital Readmissions

Abstract

Early hospital readmissions have been recognized as a common and costly occurrence, particularly among elderly and high-risk patients. One in 5 Medicare beneficiaries is readmitted within 30 days, for example, at a cost of more than $26 billion per year.¹ To encourage improvement in the quality of care and a reduction in unnecessary health expense, policymakers, reimbursement strategists, and the US government have made reducing 30-day hospital readmissions a national priority.^2-4 Achieving this goal, however, requires a more complete understanding of the underlying causes of readmission.