Hospital Use of Observation Stays: Cross-sectional Study of the Impact on Readmission Rates.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services publicly reports hospital risk-standardized readmission rates (RSRRs) as a measure of quality and performance; mischaracterizations may occur because observation stays are not captured by current measures.

Objectives

To describe variation in hospital use of observation stays, the relationship between hospitals observation stay use and RSRRs.

Materials and methods

Cross-sectional analysis of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries discharged after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, or pneumonia between July 2011 and June 2012. We calculated 3 hospital-specific 30-day outcomes: (1) observation rate, the proportion of all discharges followed by an observation stay without a readmission; (2) observati

SUBMITTER: Venkatesh AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5850934 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature