Despite literature stating otherwise, a new study finds that readmissions are indeed preventable, research published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggests.
Researchers analyzed patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in 15 counties and found that heart attack patients in the United States have higher readmission rates than other countries (14.5 percent in the United States compared to 9.9 percent elsewhere).
Health reform advocates recently have targeted STEMI patients as a metric of care and an area for cost savings, according to a JAMA press release.
"Our analysis shows that readmission may be preventable because rates are nearly one-third lower in other countries, suggesting that the U.S. health care system has features that can be modified to decrease readmission rates," the study states. "Understanding these international differences may provide important insight into reducing such rates, particularly in the United States."
However, critics of the quality metric argue that not all readmission are avoidable. In September 2011, the American Hospital Association issued a report that readmissions are an "ill-suited" quality measure, despite them being used for reimbursement penalties against hospitals. A Canadian Medical Association Journal study last year found that not all urgent readmissions are avoidable. Another JAMA study found that preventable readmission risk is not accurate and, therefore, hospitals poorly predict rehospitalizations.
Beginning in 2013, hospitals will be penalized for high readmission rates under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.
For more information:
- read the JAMA press release
- here's the study abstract
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