title: Disease chronicity and quality of care in hospital readmissions.
abstract: The study described in this article examined disease chronicity and quality of care and their relationship to hospital readmissions during a 3-month period. Results showed that readmissions due to disease chronicity were significantly more prevalent than for other categories. Illnesses, including pulmonary disease, heart failure, and cancer, ranked as leading causes for readmission, whereas readmissions due to quality of care or complications most often resulted from a previous admission for surgery. This study's findings demonstrate that using readmission rates alone as indicators of poor care can be misleading.
authors.affiliation: Main Line Health Hospitals, Wynnewood, PA, USA.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: McKay
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Bernt
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003710:Demography; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000639:trends; D006302:Health Services Research; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000145:classification*; D018881:Suburban Health; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014600:Utilization Review