A study at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston has identified four risk factors that could signal potentially avoidable readmissions due to end-of-life care issues, according to data published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
Fifteen percent of the 30-day readmissions deemed potentially avoidable in this study were due to end-of-life care issues. After analyzing characteristics of those readmissions, researchers found the following four risk factors were significantly associated with readmission. The higher the odds ratio, the more likely patients were readmitted.
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1. Neoplasm: odds ratio 5.60
2. Opiate medication prescribed at discharge: odds ratio 2.29
3. Elixhauser comorbidity index: odds ratio 1.16
4. Readmissions in the previous year: odds ratio 1.10
Researchers suggest patients with these risk factors might benefit from palliative care prior to hospital discharge to reduce the risk of a readmission, as well as improving end-of-life care.
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