An investigation of more than 3,200 hospitalizations follow by post-acute care facility stays revealed specific risk factors that may result in readmission, according to a study from the Journal of Post-Acute and Long Term Care Medicine.
Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora found that factors such as patients' needs for advanced care like oxygen therapy or dialysis, and their needs for invasive devices such as feeding tubes or catheters, were predictive for readmitted patients. Of the readmissions studied, nearly half occurred within two weeks of being released from hospital.
The authors also identified payment systems as having an impact on patient outcomes in that hospitals are incentivized to discharge patients as quickly as possible and aren't penalized for readmissions from post-acute care facilities.
"Hospital readmission from PAC facilities is common and associated with a high mortality rate," the authors concluded. "Readmission risk factors may signify inadequate transitional care processes or a mismatch between patient needs and PAC resources."