Under the healthcare reform law, the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program will begin penalizing hospitals for higher-than-expected rates of hospital readmissions in fiscal year 2013.
The AHA report outlines four different types of hospital readmissions:
• A planned readmission related to the initial admission.
• A planned readmission unrelated to the initial admission.
• An unplanned readmission unrelated to the initial admission.
• An unplanned readmission related to the initial admission.
AHA draws attention to and expresses concern over the last category of unplanned readmissions related to the initial admission, stating “[hospitals] cannot influence the occurrence of unplanned, unrelated readmissions because they are not predictable or preventable.”
AHA goes on to argue hospitals should not be penalized for planned readmissions if a patient’s return visit to the hospital is critical to his or her treatment plan.
Related Articles on Hospital Readmissions:
Some Top Hospitals Don’t Make Joint Commission’s List of High Quality Providers
Readmissions in New York Cost $3.7B
UCSF Medical Center’s Heart Program Helped Lower Readmissions by 30%
