The ability to identify patients at a high risk of potentially avoidable readmission is crucial to hospitals trying to efficiently direct patients to additional care transitions services. A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, found the international HOSPITAL score can be useful in this regard.
The HOSPITAL score uses the following seven predictors at discharge: Hemoglobin, discharge from an oncology service, sodium level, procedure during the index admission, an index type of admission classified as urgent, number of admissions during the last 12 months and length of stay.
Based on a retrospective cohort study of more than 117,000 adult patients discharged from a medical department between January 2011 and December 2011, the HOSPITAL score may be a valid tool to predict potentially avoidable 30-day readmissions.
Of all medical discharges, roughly 14.5 percent were followed by a readmission within 30 days, and 9.7 percent were followed by a 30-day potentially avoidable readmission. The HOSPITAL score was able to predict which patients were at a high risk of potentially avoidable readmissions with "moderately high discrimination."
Ultimately, the researchers concluded the score "has the potential to easily identify patients in need of more intensive transitional care interventions to prevent avoidable hospital readmissions.
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