Value-based reforms linked to readmission reduction

Editor's Note

Hospital participation in value-based reforms was associated with greater reductions in 30-day readmissions, this study finds.

In this analysis of 2,837 hospitals between 2008 and 2015, researchers found that participation in one or more voluntary Medicare value-based reforms, which included the Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records program, Accountable Care Organization programs, and Bundled Payment for Care Initiative, was associated with greater reductions in readmissions than participation in the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program alone.

The findings lend support for Medicare’s multipronged strategy to improve hospital value, the authors say.

This longitudinal study assessed whether US hospital participation in voluntary value-based reforms was associated with improvement under Medicare’s Hospital Readmission Reduction Program.