Everyone can agree that unplanned hospital readmissions are bad. That's a major reason why the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is penalizing hospitals for what its algorithms say are excessive readmissions.
But while CMS looks at 30-day readmission rates, a in Health Affairs shows that such a long period makes readmissions vulnerable to social- and community-related factors beyond a hospital's control.
The charts below illustrate readmission risk differences between low-income patients and high-income patients, as well as the risk differential between rural and urban areas. In both cases, those external factors had a large impact. And in many cases, that impact only grew as time passed.
"If the goal is empowering patients and families to make healthcare choices informed by true differences in hospital performance, then a readmission interval of 7 days or fewer might be more accurate and equitable," wrote , of the University of California-Davis' Center for Healthcare Policy and Research, and colleagues.
In the charts below, the bubbles' size indicates the relative risk. Blue indicates higher risk; red indicates lower. Move your cursor over the bubbles to see specifics.