Study: More post-acute care associated with higher readmission rates

Hospitals that often refer patients to inpatient facilities are more likely to readmit the patients within 30 days, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles. Those hospitals had a 24.1% chance of readmitting patients compared to the 21.2% for hospitals that referred patients to inpatient facilities less often.
   
The research was based on data of more than 112,000 patients at 217 hospitals in 39 states from a national surgery registry, Medicare claims, and American Hospital Association annual surveys from 2005 to 2008.

The researchers did not find a similar correlation between hospital readmissions and referrals to home healthcare.

Source: UCLA News