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
    health benefits of taking a vacation to reduce stress
    Relaxing European Destinations to Reduce Stress Risks to Health
    October 11, 2021
    pain management tips
    Managing Pain Differently: Alternative Pain Management Techniques
    January 12, 2022
    5 Ways to Promote Wellness in Your Home
    April 12, 2022
    Latest News
    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
    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
  • 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
    Cognitive Risk Declines with Activity
    June 22, 2011
    Scientific Advances on Contraceptive for Men
    July 25, 2011
    Alzheimer’s Preventable with Lifestyle Changes
    August 30, 2011
    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

What to Look For in Patient Management Software
Kinect Technology Saves Having to Rescrub!
Top Three Things for Addressing the Patient Experience Challenge
Swamped: America’s Health Care System Is Drowning in Misery
5 Major Challenges in Healthcare Recruitment Today
  • 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

non-clinical spaces
Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
Health Infographics
August 13, 2025
senior care at home
Breaking The Chain Of Infection For Seniors At Home
Infographics Senior Care
August 13, 2025
medical devices
The Lifecycle Of A Medical Device: From Concept To Disposal
Infographics Technology
August 13, 2025
Why Delaying Care For Minor Injuries Can Lead To Bigger Problems
Infographics Wellness
August 13, 2025

You Might also Like

rash caused by drug
BusinessHospital AdministrationPolicy & LawPublic Health

Medical Complications Torture Doctors, Too

September 25, 2014

Bacteria and Mobile Devices

June 26, 2011
collaborative innovation in healthcare
BusinessHospital Administration

Collaborative Innovation: A Decade in Perspective

November 20, 2014
ahaapcd
BusinessFinanceHospital Administration

The All-Payer Claims Database: What You Need to Know

January 14, 2015
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?