http://goo.gl/Xm5laI
A new study conducted by Premier, Inc. and published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality suggests women and Medicarepatients are more likely to be readmitted to a hospital. It also found that COPD and heart failure are among the top five disease states driving readmissions.
It evaluated readmission rates from approximately 15 million inpatient, all-payer discharges across more than 600 diverse hospitals. The study found that factors such as income, gender, age and payer status all showed a strong statistical significance in predicting readmissions within 30 days. Specifically, it suggests that the odds for heart attack patients being readmitted were:
- 17% higher for women than men.
- 24% higher for Medicare patients versus those with commercial insurance.
In addition, the lower the income and older an individual, the more likely they were to be readmitted. These findings suggest that readmission rates are closely linked to a patient's socioeconomic status.