title: A conceptual framework for improved analyses of 72-hour return cases.
abstract: For more than 25 years, emergency medicine researchers have examined 72-hour return visits as a marker for high-risk patient visits and as a surrogate measure for quality of care. Individual emergency departments frequently use 72-hour returns as a screening tool to identify deficits in care, although comprehensive departmental reviews of this nature may consume considerable resources. We discuss the lack of published data supporting the use of 72-hour return frequency as an overall performance measure and examine why this is not a valid use, describe a conceptual framework for reviewing 72-hour return cases as a screening tool, and call for future studies to test various models for conducting such quality assurance reviews of patients who return to the emergency department within 72 hours.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Electronic address: brad.shy@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bradley D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Shy
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Jason S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Peter L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Shearer
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Nicholas G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Genes
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Cindy F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Clesca
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Reuben J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Strayer
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Lynne D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Richardson
mesh_terms: D057286:Electronic Health Records; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017050:Episode of Care; D006801:Humans; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care