By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    HIPPA compliance
    How Medical Office Staff Can Make Your Practice HIPAA Compliant
    October 29, 2021
    Everything you need to know about hyaluronic acid treatment
    Everything you need to know about hyaluronic acid treatment
    February 10, 2022
    Which Mushroom Capsules Are Good for Your Health?
    May 5, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    ID-100249250
    8 Months Until ICD-10 Implementation: What to Know
    February 23, 2015
    What To Know About The Palatable Career Of A Dietician
    August 1, 2019
    cloud services
    Evaluating and Choosing Healthcare Cloud Service Providers
    February 2, 2024
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Do Readmission Rates Really Indicate Hospital Quality?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Hospital Administration > Do Readmission Rates Really Indicate Hospital Quality?
Hospital Administration

Do Readmission Rates Really Indicate Hospital Quality?

Brad Wright
Brad Wright
Share
4 Min Read
Image
SHARE

Unplanned readmissions to the hospital have been the focus of much attention in recent years for obvious reasons: First, they are relatively easy to measure using administrative claims data. Second, like all inpatient hospitalizations, they cost a lot of money–and are therefore a target for reducing spending. Third, they are a proxy for quality of care, as at least some portion of them are likely avoidable if the hospital does its job well. On this last point, many disagree, citing the lack of continuity of care that exists post-discharge as a major source of readmissions.

Unplanned readmissions to the hospital have been the focus of much attention in recent years for obvious reasons: First, they are relatively easy to measure using administrative claims data. Second, like all inpatient hospitalizations, they cost a lot of money–and are therefore a target for reducing spending. Third, they are a proxy for quality of care, as at least some portion of them are likely avoidable if the hospital does its job well. On this last point, many disagree, citing the lack of continuity of care that exists post-discharge as a major source of readmissions. According to the folks in this camp, the patients themselves and their primary care physicians–not the hospital–are to blame for many of the unexpected returns to the hospital.Image

While this debate rages on, however, the federal government is taking action. Since 2009 they have published data on hospital quality using the Hospital Compare website, so that the public can be better informed. Then, starting last October, readmission rates for three conditions (heart attack, congestive heart failure, and pneumonia) were tracked, and hospitals with higher than expected rates were subjected to a reduction in Medicare reimbursement.

But a recent study from Matthew Press and colleagues in the June issue of Health Affairs finds that hospital readmission rates may not be such a good indicator of hospital quality after all. First, they found that across all hospitals, readmission rates for heart attack ranged from a low of 15.3% to a high of 25.6%. When they divided the hospitals up into quartiles, they found that only 1.7 percentage points separated the bottom 25% from the top 25%. Then, not surprisingly given the limited distance between the groups, they found that in just two years, many of those in the best performing group moved into the worst performing group and vice versa. Part of the explanation is what statisticians and econometricians call “regression to the mean.” In short, if you’re at the top of the pack, it is statistically more likely that you will move down than move up, just because you’ve got much more room to move in one direction than the other. The same is true in the reverse for the low performers. The investigators also found that, with few exceptions (e.g., teaching status), risk-standardized readmission rates were not correlated with other measures of hospital quality.

More Read

medical billing coding changes
Are Doctors Prepared for Impending Changes to Medical Billing Practices?
Should Patients Join the Pay-for-Performance Circus?
Another Irrational Ebola Response
Revenue Cycle Management in Healthcare: Managing Insurance Denials
3 Universal Factors Hospital Administrations Need to Keep Nurses Satisfied

So what does this mean? Well, the authors suggest, there could be quite a few problems with policies that rely heavily on readmission rates alone as an indicator of hospital quality. Instead, they argue that other measures should be considered in addition to readmission rates when comparing hospital quality and that it is important to take regression to the mean into account by adjusting accordingly. In short, when it comes to measuring hospital quality, the more ways in which it is measured, the better.

 

        

TAGGED:re-admissions
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025
engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

CMS Proposed Payment Changes for Outpatient Procedures

August 21, 2014

Integrated Health System Adoption: How to Start a Movement

May 15, 2013
CARF accreditation
BusinessHospital Administration

The Benefits and Value of CARF Accreditation

May 24, 2014
Image
Global HealthcareHospital Administration

Covering the Needs of Patients in Nizhny Novgorod

December 17, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?