Identifying risk of hospital readmission among Medicare aged patients: an approach using routinely collected data.
Readmission provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of March 2010 have created urgent fiscal accountability requirements for hospitals, dependent upon a better understanding of their specific populations, along with development of mechanisms to easily identify these at-risk patients. Readmissions are disruptive and costly to both patients and the health care system. Effectively addressing hospital readmissions among Medicare aged patients offers promising targets for resources aimed at improved quality of care for older patients. Routinely collected data, accessible via electronic medical records, were examined using logistic models of sociodemographic, clinical, and utilization factors to identify predictors among patients who required rehospitalization within 30 days. Specific comorbidities and discharge care orders in this urban, nonprofit hospital had significantly greater odds of predicting a Medicare aged patient's risk of readmission within 30 days.
Azusa Pacific University, Department of Graduate Social Work, School of Behavioral and Applied Sciences, Azusa, California 91702-7000, USA. anavarro@apu.edu
Adria E
AE
Navarro
Susan
S
Enguídanos
Kathleen H
KH
Wilber
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012308:Risk Management; D014481:United States