SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS IMPACT READMISSION Adjusting for patients’ socioeconomic status reduced the variation in 30-day readmission rates across hospitals. A study published in Health Affairs compared hospital performance on 30-day readmissions for Medicare heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia patients discharged between June 2009 and 2012 with results using a model enriched with patient socioeconomic data. Although average risk-adjusted readmissions rates did not change significantly, the range of hospital performance decreased by nearly 5 percentage points for heart attack, 7 percentage points for heart failure, and 4 percentage points for pneumonia. Missouri Hospital Association President and CEO Herb Kuhn said the study “illustrates the challenges faced by patients and hospitals as individuals are discharged into communities with few economic, health and social assets.” Another study in the journal by researchers at Henry Ford Health System found that patients living in high-poverty neighborhoods were 24% more likely than others to be readmitted within 30 days. Married patients also were less likely than unmarried to be readmitted, suggesting they have more social supports.
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 21:46:54 +0000
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