Assessment of Hospital Readmissions From the Emergency Department After Implementation of Medicare's Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program

Health Care Use Among Patients Retroactively Insured via a Hospital-Based Insurance Linkage Program

OBJECTIVE

Over 25% of the 27 million uninsured individuals in the United States are eligible for Medicaid. Many hospitals have insurance linkage programs that assist eligible patients with enrollment, but little is known about the impact of these programs on care utilization. This research assessed health care utilization and health outcomes among patients enrolled in Medicaid via a hospital-based insurance linkage program.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study included adults aged 18-64 admitted to the hospital from 2016 to 2021. Those who obtained insurance retroactively via insurance linkage (RI) were compared with those who presented with Medicaid (MI) or remained uninsured (UI). The primary outcome was the presence of at least one visit with a primary care provider (PCP) in the 12 months following index admission. Secondary outcomes included having an assigned PCP, ED revisits, and hospital readmissions. For patients with diabetes and hypertension, 12-month hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and blood pressure (BP) readings were tracked.

RESULTS

Of 3882 patients admitted with no insurance, 2905 (74.8%) were enrolled in insurance (RI). In multivariable analysis, RI patients were 14% more likely (OR 1.14, p = 0.020) to have completed at least one PCP visit by 12 months after index admission compared to those with preexisting Medicaid (MI), and uninsured patients were 29% less likely (OR 0.71, p = 0.003). MI and RI patients also had more ED revisits (p < 0.001) and greater 12-month reductions in blood pressure (p < 0.001) compared with uninsured patients.

CONCLUSION

Hospital-based insurance linkage reached three-quarters of uninsured patients and was associated with increased utilization of acute and outpatient health care services. An acute care encounter represents an opportunity to connect patients to insurance, a key step toward improving their health outcomes.

Utilization of a multidisciplinary hospital-based approach to reduce readmission rates

Background

Hospital readmissions remain a significant and pressing issue in our healthcare system. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act helped establish the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, which incentivized reducing readmission rates by instituting penalties. Hospital readmission, specifically unplanned, refers to a patient returning to the hospital shortly after discharge due to the same or a related medical condition, signaling potential issues in initial care, discharge processes, or post-hospitalization management. For this study, we defined readmission as a return to the hospital within 30 days. In 2018, Staten Island University Hospital started a multidisciplinary and coordinated initiative to reduce patient readmissions. The approach involved the departments of emergency medicine, medicine, cardiology, case management, nursing, pharmacy, and transitional care management. This study aimed to determine if this approach reduced 30-day readmissions.

Methods

This case-control retrospective study reviewed electronic health records between January 2018 and November 2019. Readmission rates within 30 days of index discharge were compared between patients who received transitional care management before and after establishing a multidisciplinary communication of transitional care. Readmission rates were unadjusted and adjusted for patient demographics and predisposed risk for readmission and compared across demographics and select clinical characteristics.

Results

A total of 772 patients were included in the analyses; 323 were in the control group (41.8%), and 449 were in the intervention group (58.2%). After the hospital adopted the workflow for multidisciplinary communication of transitional care, there was 45.2% less adjusted incidence of readmission, or approximately seven fewer overall readmissions per 100 patients (16.4% readmission vs 9.0% readmission; incident rate ratio, 0.55; 95% CI: 0.34-0.88).

Conclusions

Multidisciplinary communication approaches led by emergency medicine can help reduce readmissions significantly. Adopting a structured communication workflow can enhance co-managing patients with a high risk of readmission between the emergency department and hospital medicine teams.

Electronic connectivity between hospital pairs: impact on emergency department-related utilization

OBJECTIVE

To use more precise measures of which hospitals are electronically connected to determine whether health information exchange (HIE) is associated with lower emergency department (ED)-related utilization.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We combined 2018 Medicare fee-for-service claims to identify beneficiaries with 2 ED encounters within 30 days, and Definitive Healthcare and AHA IT Supplement data to identify hospital participation in HIE networks (HIOs and EHR vendor networks). We determined whether the 2 encounters for the same beneficiary occurred at: the same organization, different organizations connected by HIE, or different organizations not connected by HIE. Outcomes were: (1) whether any repeat imaging occurred during the second ED visit; (2) for beneficiaries with a treat-and-release ED visit followed by a second ED visit, whether they were admitted to the hospital after the second visit; (3) for beneficiaries discharged from the hospital followed by an ED visit, whether they were admitted to the hospital.

RESULTS

In adjusted mixed effects models, for all outcomes, beneficiaries returning to the same organization had significantly lower utilization compared to those going to different organizations. Comparing only those going to different organizations, HIE was not associated with lower levels of repeat imaging. HIE was associated with lower likelihood of hospital admission following a treat-and-release ED visit (1.83 percentage points [-3.44 to -0.21]) but higher likelihood of admission following hospital discharge (2.78 percentage points [0.48-5.08]).

DISCUSSION

Lower utilization for beneficiaries returning to the same organization could reflect better access to information or other factors such as aligned incentives.

CONCLUSION

HIE is not consistently associated with utilization outcomes reflecting more coordinated care in the ED setting.

Avoiding Escalation to the Emergency Department by Activating an In-Home Rapid Response Team in the 30 Days After Hospital-at-Home Discharge

BACKGROUND

Mayo Clinic's virtual hybrid hospital-at-home program, Advanced Care at Home (ACH) monitors acute and post-acute patients for signs of deterioration and institutes a rapid response (RR) system if detected.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to describe Mayo Clinic's ACH RR team and its effect on emergency department (ED) use and readmission rates.

METHODS

This was a retrospective review of all post-inpatient (restorative phase) ACH patients admitted from July 6, 2020 through June 30, 2021. If the restorative patient had a clinical decompensation, an RR was activated. All RR activations were analyzed for patient demographic characteristics, admitting and escalation diagnosis, time spent by virtual team on the RR, and whether the RR resulted in transport to the ED or hospital readmission.

RESULTS

Three hundred and twenty patients were admitted to ACH during the study interval; 230 received restorative care. Seventy-two patients (31.3%) had events that triggered an RR. Fifty (69.4%) of the RR events were related to the admission diagnosis (p < 0.001; 95% CI 0.59-0.80). Twelve patients (16.7%) required transport to an ED for further treatment and were readmitted and 60 patients (83.3%) were able to be treated successfully in the home by the RR team (p < 0.001; 95% CI 0.08-0.25).

CONCLUSIONS

The use of an ACH RR team was effective at limiting both escalations back to an ED and hospital readmissions, as 83% of deteriorating patients were successfully stabilized and managed in their homes. Implementing a hospital-at-home RR team can reduce the need for ED use by providing critical resources and carrying out required interventions to stabilize the patient's condition.

Frequency and patient attributes associated with emergency department visits after discharge: Retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

The utilization of emergency department (ED) during the post-discharge period may provide relevant insights to reduce fragmentation of care, particularly in a context of general intense use. We aimed to describe frequency and patient attributes associated with emergency department (ED) visits within 30 days of inpatient discharge in a Portuguese health region-Algarve.

METHODS

Secondary data on inpatient and emergency care, for adult patients discharged in 2016. To analyse the association between outcome-ED visit within 30 days of discharge-and selected variables (admission type and groups of or individual illnesses/conditions), we used age- and sex-adjusted odds ratios (aOR). We included all adult patients (aged ≥18 years) discharged during 2016 from the region's public hospital inpatient departments. The period for ED visits also included January 2017.

RESULTS

For 21,744 adults discharged in 2016 (mean age: 58 years; 60% female), 23 percent visited ED at least once within 30 days of discharge. Seventy-five percent of those visits were triaged with high clinical priority. Patients with more comorbidities or specific groups of illnesses/conditions had a significant increased risk of returning ED (aOR and 95% confidence intervals-endocrine: 1.566; 1.256-1.951; mental illness: 1.421; 1.180-1.713; respiratory: 1.308; 1.136-1.505).

CONCLUSION

Patients returned ED after inpatient discharge frequently and for severe reasons. Patients with more comorbidities or specific groups of illnesses/conditions (endocrine, mental illness or respiratory) had an increased risk of returning ED, so these groups may be prioritized in further research and health system initiatives to improve care before and after discharge.

Predictive Modeling of Hospital Readmission: Challenges and Solutions

Hospital readmission prediction is a study to learn models from historical medical data to predict probability of a patient returning to hospital in a certain period, e.g. 30 or 90 days, after the discharge. The motivation is to help health providers deliver better treatment and post-discharge strategies, lower the hospital readmission rate, and eventually reduce the medical costs. Due to inherent complexity of diseases and healthcare ecosystems, modeling hospital readmission is facing many challenges. By now, a variety of methods have been developed, but existing literature fails to deliver a complete picture to answer some fundamental questions, such as what are the main challenges and solutions in modeling hospital readmission; what are typical features/models used for readmission prediction; how to achieve meaningful and transparent predictions for decision making; and what are possible conflicts when deploying predictive approaches for real-world usages. In this paper, we systematically review computational models for hospital readmission prediction, and propose a taxonomy of challenges featuring four main categories: (1) data variety and complexity; (2) data imbalance, locality and privacy; (3) model interpretability; and (4) model implementation. The review summarizes methods in each category, and highlights technical solutions proposed to address the challenges. In addition, a review of datasets and resources available for hospital readmission modeling also provides firsthand materials to support researchers and practitioners to design new approaches for effective and efficient hospital readmission prediction.

Trends and Variations in Emergency Department Use Associated With Diabetes in the US by Sociodemographic Factors, 2008-2017

IMPORTANCE

Little is known about emergency department (ED) use among people with diabetes and whether the pattern of ED use varies across geographic areas and population subgroups.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate recent national- and state-level trends in diabetes-related ED use overall and by race and ethnicity, rural or urban location, and insurance status.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This cross-sectional study of adults visiting the ED with a diabetes-related diagnosis used serial data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, a nationally representative database, and discharge records from 11 state emergency department databases for 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2016 to 2017. Data were analyzed from March 16 to November 9, 2020.

EXPOSURES

Reported race and ethnicity, rural or urban location, and insurance status. Data were stratified to generate state-specific estimates.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Rates of ED use for all-cause visits among adults with diabetes (all-cause diabetes visits) and visits with primary diagnoses of diabetes-specific complications.

RESULTS

A larger portion of all-cause diabetes ED visits (n = 32 433 015) were by female (56.8%) and middle-aged (mean [SD] age, 58.4 [16.3] years) adults with diabetes. Nationally, all-cause diabetes ED visits per 10 000 adults increased 55.6% (95% CI, 50.6%-60.6%), from 257.6 (95% CI, 249.9-265.3) visits in 2008 to 400.8 (95% CI, 387.6-414.0) visits in 2017. All-cause diabetes ED visits increased more for urban (58.3%; 95% CI, 52.5%-64.1%) and uninsured subgroups (75.3% [95% CI, 59.8%-90.8%]) than for their counterparts. Diabetes-specific ED visits (weighted number of 1 911 795) nationally increased slightly among all subgroups. State-specific ED use rates show wide state-to-state variations in ED use by race and ethnicity, rural or urban location, and insurance. On average across states, diabetes-specific ED use among Black patients was approximately 3 times (rate ratio, 3.09 [95% CI, 2.91-3.30]) greater than among non-Hispanic White patients, and among Hispanic patients, it was 29% greater (rate ratio, 1.29 [95% CI, 1.19-1.40]) than among non-Hispanic White patients. The mean rate of ED use among rural patients was 34% greater (rate ratio, 1.34 [95% CI, 1.26-1.44]) than among urban patients. The mean rates of ED use among patients with Medicaid (rate ratio, 6.65 [95% CI, 6.49-6.82]) and Medicare (rate ratio, 4.37 [95% CI, 4.23-4.51]) were greater than among privately insured adults.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

This study suggests that disparities in diabetes-related ED use associated with race and ethnicity, rural or urban location, and insurance status were persistent from 2008 to 2017 within and across states, as well as nationally. Further geographic and demographic-specific analyses are needed to understand the sources of inequity.

Emergency Department Visits Versus Hospital Readmissions Among Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure

BACKGROUND

Worsening heart failure (HF) often requires hospitalization but in some cases may be managed in the outpatient or emergency department (ED) settings. The predictors and clinical significance of ED visits without admission vs hospitalization are unclear.

METHODS

The ASCEND-HF trial included 2661 US patients hospitalized for HF with reduced or preserved ejection fraction. Clinical characteristics were compared between patients with a subsequent all-cause ED visit (with ED discharge) within 30 days vs all-cause readmission within 30 days. Factors associated with each type of care were assessed in multivariable models. Multivariable models landmarked at 30 days evaluated associations between each type of care and subsequent 150-day mortality.

RESULTS

Through 30-day follow-up, 193 patients (7%) had ED discharge, 459 (17%) had readmission, and 2009 (76%) had neither urgent visit. Patients with ED discharge vs readmission were similar with respect to age, sex, systolic blood pressure, ejection fraction, and coronary artery disease, whereas ED discharge patients had a modestly lower creatinine (P < .01). Among patients with either event within 30 days, a higher creatinine and prior HF hospitalization were associated with a higher likelihood of readmission, as compared with ED discharge (P < .02). Landmarked at 30 days, rates of death during the subsequent 150 days were 21.0% for patients who were readmitted and 11.4% for patients discharged from the ED. Compared with patients who were readmitted, ED discharge was independently associated with lower 150-day mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 0.58, 95% confidence interval 0.36-0.92, P = .02).

CONCLUSIONS

In this cohort of US patients hospitalized for HF, worse renal function and prior HF hospitalization were associated with a higher likelihood of early postdischarge readmission, as compared with ED discharge. Although subsequent mortality was high after discharge from the ED, this risk of mortality was significantly lower than patients who were readmitted to the hospital.

Trends in 30- and 90-Day Readmission Rates for Heart Failure

BACKGROUND

The impact of hospital readmission reduction program (HRRP) on heart failure (HF) outcomes has been debated. Limited data exist regarding trends of HF readmission rates beyond 30 days from all-payer sources. The aim of this study was to investigate temporal trends of 30- and 90-day HF readmissions rates from 2010 to 2017 in patients from all-payer sources.

METHODS

The National Readmission Database was utilized to identify HF hospitalizations between 2010 and 2017. In the primary analysis, a linear trend in 30-day and 90-day readmissions from 2010 to 2017 was assessed. While in the secondary analysis, a change in aggregated 30- and 90-day all-cause and HF-specific readmissions pre-HRRP penalty phase (2010-2012) and post-HRRP penalties (2013-2017) was compared. Subgroup analyses were performed based on (1) Medicare versus non-Medicare insurance, (2) low versus high HF volume, and (3) HF with reduced versus preserved ejection fraction (heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction). Multiple logistic and adjusted linear regression analyses were performed for annual trends.

RESULTS

A total of 6 669 313 index HF hospitalizations for 30-day, and 5 077 949 index HF hospitalizations for 90-day readmission, were included. Of these, 1 213 402 (18.2%) encounters had a readmission within 30 days, and 1 585 445 (31.2%) encounters had a readmission within 90 days. Between 2010 and 2017, both 30 and 90 days adjusted HF-specific and all-cause readmissions increased (8.1% to 8.7%, P trend 0.04, and 18.3% to 19.9%, P trend <0.001 for 30-day and 14.8% to 16.0% and 30.9% to 34.6% for 90-day, P trend <0.001 for both, respectively). Readmission rates were higher during the post-HRRP penalty period compared with pre-HRRP penalty phase (all-cause readmission 30 days: 18.6% versus 17.5%, P<0.001, all-cause readmission 90 days: 32.0% versus 29.9%, P<0.001) across all subgroups except among the low-volume hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS

The rates of adjusted HF-specific and all-cause 30- and 90-day readmissions have increased from 2010 to 2017. Readmissions rates were higher during the HRRP phase across all subgroups except the low-volume hospitals.

Evaluation of Hospital Performance Using the Excess Days in Acute Care Measure in the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program

The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) has penalized hospitals with higher 30-day readmission rates more than $3 billion to date. Clinicians and policy experts have raised concerns that the 30-day readmission measure used in this program provides an incomplete picture of performance because it does not capture all hospital encounters that may occur after discharge. In contrast, the excess days in acute care (EDAC) measure, which currently is not used in the HRRP, captures the full spectrum of hospital encounters (emergency department, observation stay, inpatient readmission) and their associated lengths of stay within 30 days of discharge. This study of 3173 hospitals that participated in the HRRP in fiscal year 2019 compared performance on the readmission and EDAC measures and evaluated whether using the EDAC measure would change hospitals' penalty status for 3 conditions targeted by the HRRP. Overall, only moderate agreement was found on hospital performance rankings by using the readmission and EDAC measures (weighted κ statistic: heart failure, 0.45 [95% CI, 0.42 to 0.47]; acute myocardial infarction [AMI], 0.37 [CI, 0.35 to 0.40]; and pneumonia, 0.50 [CI, 0.47 to 0.52]). Under the HRRP, the penalty status of 769 (27.0%) of 2845 hospitals for heart failure, 581 (28.3%) of 2055 for AMI, and 724 (24.9%) of 2911 for pneumonia would change if the EDAC measure were used instead of the readmission measure to evaluate performance. Fewer small and rural hospitals would receive penalties. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should consider using the EDAC measure, which provides a more comprehensive picture of postdischarge hospital use, rather than the 30-day readmission measure to evaluate health care system performance under federal quality, reporting, and value-based programs.