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
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 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
    Image
    Healthcare Pricing Transparency Gains Momentum
    June 24, 2013
    non-clinical care factors in health outcomes
    Addressing Non-Clinical Care Factors in Health Outcomes
    November 15, 2013
    e interventions
    Healthcare Progress Depends On “E Interventions”
    July 10, 2014
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Readmissions: Hard to Predict Who it Will Be and Why
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 > Readmissions: Hard to Predict Who it Will Be and Why
Hospital Administration

Readmissions: Hard to Predict Who it Will Be and Why

DavidEWilliams
DavidEWilliams
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

Reducing readmissions is becoming increasingly important for hospitals. In the olden days (and still to some extent now) a readmission was simply a new opportunity to earn revenue on the same patient. But as payment models evolve toward refusing payment for preventable readmissions and as readmission rates are used as publicly reported quality measures, this is changing.

Reducing readmissions is becoming increasingly important for hospitals. In the olden days (and still to some extent now) a readmission was simply a new opportunity to earn revenue on the same patient. But as payment models evolve toward refusing payment for preventable readmissions and as readmission rates are used as publicly reported quality measures, this is changing.

Today’s Hospitalist has a fascinating article on the topic: Think you can predict readmissions? Thing again; Doctors are clueless when it comes to guessing which patients will bounce back. It reports on a Journal of General Internal Medicine paper (Inability of Providers to Predict Unplanned Readmissions) that documents attempts to improve on readmission prediction models. The authors’ hypothesis was that physicians, case managers and nurses would take into account  a wider array of factors, e.g., socieconomics, health literacy, unmeasured clinical variables –compared with the fairly simplistic and modestly accurate algorithms in place today.

As the authors demonstrated, the experts were even worse than the model at predicting who would bounce back, and were completely useless in predicting the reasons that specific patients would be readmitted. The study brings to mind some interesting points:

More Read

Image
A More Positive Outlook on Provider Consolidation
Subscription Management Solutions Are Crucial for Telemedicine
Dr. Ryan Shelton Reveals 9 Data-Driven Tips for Optimal Health
Addressing Medical Errors: Working to Improve Care and Reduce Costs
How A Doctor’s Perception of Patients Can Impact Patient Satisfaction
  • Since no one can tell who will be readmitted, programs that focus on patients that are supposedly high-risk are unlikely to be successful
  • If no one can predict who’s coming back, perhaps the causes of readmission are not the specific patient’s situation but more systemic factors related to how the hospital is run
  • At least in the institution profiled in the study, no one seems to be closing the loop on who’s readmitted and why. Therefore there is no learning opportunity for doctors, nurses, and case managers. I raised this point in my podcast interview yesterday with Paul Brient, who replied that PatientKeeper helps to address this problem

Perhaps the most important line in the whole paper is the following:

All groups underestimated the degree to which patients would be readmitted for adverse effects of therapy

From a patient perspective, this is a critical finding and reinforces my skepticism of clinical practice patterns in the US. Physicians hear so much about what works –often directly from drug or device companies and if not then indirectly– which tends to create a bias toward prescribing these therapies. When patients don’t follow their therapies the medical profession often couches the issue in terms of patient “compliance” or “adherence” whereas the problem may be the therapy rather than the patient. It would be very good for providers to get feedback on this topic, both at the level of specific patients as well as through broader studies.

 


TAGGED:admissionshospitals
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025
paramedics in surgical gloves and masks
How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
Health care
July 16, 2025

You Might also Like

Evaluating Doctor Conduct
BusinessHealth ReformHospital AdministrationMedical EducationMedical EthicsNewsPolicy & LawPublic Health

Taking a Fresh Look at Disruptive Physician Conduct

September 17, 2014

Choosing a Different Peer Review Vendor

May 17, 2016
physicians are the canary in the coal mine of medicine
Health ReformHospital Administration

Are Physicians the Canary in the Coal Mine of Medicine

January 21, 2013
healthcare price transparency
BusinessFinanceHospital Administration

Price Transparency: The Devil is in the Detail for Hospitals

October 17, 2014
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?