Almost 90% of seven-day hospital readmissions are not preventable, according to a study published Aug. 31 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Researchers at Yale New Haven (Conn.) Hospital reviewed 244 seven-day readmissions among 204 adult patients discharged from the hospitalist service between April 29 and July 24, 2025, to identify the primary reasons for readmission and assess whether they were preventable.
Here are three things to know:
- The seven-day readmission rate was 5.3% across 4,640 inpatient discharges. Nearly 70% of readmitted patients had at least one hospitalization in the prior year.
Among all readmissions, 10.2% were found to be preventable, with 4.5% attributed to diagnostic or management errors, 4.1% to medication-related issues and 1.6% to inadequate follow-up. - Chronic disease progression, new illness or injury, and mental health or substance use conditions drove the majority of readmissions, at 39.8%, 32% and 15.6%, respectively.
Among patients readmitted for mental health or substance use, 58% had left the hospital against medical advice. - The authors called for expanded outpatient palliative care and rapid-access addiction treatment, arguing further reductions in readmissions may depend more on community-based support than additional hospital-based interventions.
Read the full study here.
