CMS: Readmissions fall by more than 500,000

Editor's Note

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on September 13 announced that 30-day patient readmissions fell by an estimated 565,000 over 5 years, from 2010 to 2015.

Rates declined by more than 5% in 43 states and by more than 10% in 11 states. The only state that didn’t have a decline was Vermont, where the readmission rate was virtually unchanged.

By Patrick Conway, M.D., principal deputy administrator and chief medical officer, CMS; and Tim Gronniger, deputy chief of staff, CMS Affordable Care Act reforms helping Medicare beneficiaries experience better care at lower cost The unfortunate experience of having to return to the hospital after recently being treated-or watching the same thing happen to a friend...