Preventability of early vs late readmissions

Editor's Note

Preventability of readmissions changes with time, this study finds. Readmissions within the first week after discharge were more likely to be preventable by hospital-based interventions, whereas later readmissions were less likely to be preventable and more amenable to ambulatory and home-based interventions.

This analysis of 822 patients readmitted to 10 academic medical centers found that:

• 36.2% of early readmissions versus 23% of late readmissions were preventable
• hospitals were better locations for preventing early readmissions (47.2% vs 25.5%)
• outpatient clinics (15.2% vs 6.6%) and homes (19.4% vs 14.0%) were better for preventing late readmissions.

Currently, all unplanned readmissions within 30 days after discharge are considered uniformly preventable by hospitals, and hospitals are punished with financial penalties.