Readmissions to U.S. Hospitals by Diagnosis, 2010

Excerpt

In this Statistical Brief, readmission was defined as a subsequent hospital admission within 30 days following an original admission (or index stay) that occurred from January through November 2010. All-cause readmissions were examined; thus, readmissions may or may not include conditions that were listed as the principal diagnosis during the index stay. Readmissions were tracked across the same or different hospitals. Some readmissions may be planned or unavoidable—no attempt was made to remove these types of readmissions from the analysis.

Readmission rates using Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) data are presented for the most frequently treated conditions in U.S. hospitals during 2010 and for the conditions with the highest readmission rates. All estimates were taken from HCUPnet, the online query system that provides free access to information from HCUP. For a subset of conditions, readmission rates are presented by age group and expected payer (insurance status). Patients younger than 1 year were excluded from this analysis. Readmission rates were calculated without risk adjustment.