Preventing Readmissions

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Reducing Preventable Hospital Readmissions


A 2007 report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) showed that more than 13 percent of hospital readmissions were potentially preventable (Medicare Payment Advisory Committee, 2007). Subsequent studies have found that in older populations, rates of readmission can run around 20 percent within 30 days of discharge (Jencks, 2009). With the announcement that providers will no longer be reimbursed for preventable readmissions, many hospitals are actively pursuing strategies to reduce their preventable readmissions. The Readmissions project is a two-phase research and implementation study to support hospital decision-makers in selecting the most effective readmission intervention for their hospital systems. The study involves three universities and three hospital systems, all committed to researching and addressing preventable readmissions and representative of acute care hospitals serving communities nationwide.


The interventions will be based upon the identification and validation of causative factors for readmission at each hospital and the hospital’s capacity to implement. By comparing the nature of readmission experience across the hospitals, the project team will determine similarities and differences and develop a better understanding of those strategies that may be consistently effective in all hospitals or unique to a specific hospital. If appropriate and possible, predictive models will be developed to understand the interaction among factors associated with increased risk for readmission.


Objectives

The objectives of this research and implementation project are to:
  1. Develop a profile of preventable readmissions at the hospital level
  2. Measure the current state of readmissions at the three partnering hospital systems and compare them with readmissions rates and causes from the literature
  3. Develop statistical models to better predict risk of readmissions at the partnering hospital systems
  4. Assess and prioritize care transition interventions based on these models, and work with the partnering hospitals to implement the best strategies to help mitigate their risks of readmissions
  5. Measure the improvement in readmission rates at the partnering hospital systems
  6. Disseminate the results of the project.
Beyond the research agenda, the project seeks to establish a multi-university collaborative research environment focused on health care.

Restrictions

This application and its communities are restricted to universities and hospital groups who have agreed with the terms and conditions for sharing and examining data. For more information about this program, contact Ken Musselman kenmus@purdue.edu , at Purdue's Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering.

Groups

Several Communities are available for researchers on this project:

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Tags

  1. healthcare engineering
  2. population health
  3. readmissions