Of the 10 most common readmissions conditions for patients with private insurance, chemotherapy resulted in the highest costs for hospitals, according to an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality statistical brief.
In 2011, chemotherapy and radiotherapy readmissions among the commercially insured cost hospitals $400 million. It was also the most common readmission. The second-costliest readmission for privately insured patients involved complications from devices, implants or grafts, totaling $322 million.
Like Medicaid readmissions, the costs of commercially insured readmissions costs are a drop in the bucket compared to Medicare. The 10 most common commercially insured readmissions cost hospitals $2.06 billion in 2011, almost identical to Medicaid figures. However, congestive heart failure — the most common and expensive Medicare readmission — cost $1.75 billion alone.
Here are the costs of the 10 most common readmissions among the commercially insured, according to the AHRQ brief. Note: Costs were defined as the actual expenses incurred in the production of hospital services (such as wages, supplies and utility costs). A readmission was defined as a patient who was hospitalized within 30 days of a previous hospital admission.
1. Maintenance chemotherapy and radiotherapy — $400 million (25,500 total readmissions)
2. Complications of device, implant or graft — $322 million (16,900 total readmissions)
3. Septicemia (except in labor) — $272 million (14,800 total readmissions)
4. Complications of surgical procedures or medical care — $250 million (18,000 total readmissions)
5. Secondary malignancies — $176 million (12,000 total readmissions)
6. Pancreatic disorders (not diabetes) — $156 million (11,000 total readmissions)
7. Coronary atherosclerosis and other heart disease — $154 million (10,800 total readmissions)
8. Diabetes mellitus with complications — $138 million (12,700 total readmissions)
9. Mood disorders — $135 million (19,600 total readmissions)
10. Early or threatened labor — $59 million (11,300 total readmissions)
To view the costs of the 10 most common Medicare and Medicaid readmissions in 2011, click here and here.
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