Readmissions, penalties, and the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program

Trends in the quality and cost of inpatient surgical procedures in the United States, 2002-2015

OBJECTIVES

This study documents trends in risk-adjusted quality and cost for a variety of inpatient surgical procedures among Medicare beneficiaries from 2002 through 2015, which can provide valuable insight on future strategies to improve public health and health care.

METHODS

We focused on 11 classes of inpatient surgery, defined by the Agency for Health Research and Quality's (AHRQ's) Clinical Classification System. The surgical classes studied included a wide range of surgeries, including tracheostomy, heart valve procedures, colorectal resection, and wound debridement, among others. For each surgical class, we assessed trends in treatment costs and quality outcomes, as defined by 30-day survival without unplanned readmissions, among Medicare beneficiaries receiving these procedures during hospital stays. Quality and costs were adjusted for patient severity based on demographics, comorbidities, and community context. We also explored surgical innovations of these 11 classes of inpatient surgery from 2002-2015.

RESULTS

We found significant improvements in quality for 7 surgical classes, ranging from 0.08% (percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty) to 0.74% (heart valve procedures) per year. Changes in cost varied by surgery, the significant decrease in cost ranged from -2.59% (tracheostomy) to -0.34% (colorectal resection) per year. Treatment innovation occurred with respect to surgical procedures utilized for heart valve procedures and colorectal resection, which may be associated with the decrease in surgical cost.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that there was significant quality improvement for 7 surgery categories over the 14-year study period. Costs decreased significantly for 6 surgery categories, and increased significantly for 3 other categories.

Reimbursement Penalties and 30-Day Readmissions Following Total Joint Arthroplasty

The U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act created the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) and the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP). Under these programs, hospitals face reimbursement reductions for having high rates of readmission and hospital-acquired conditions. This study investigated whether readmission following total joint arthroplasty (TJA) under the HRRP was associated with reimbursement penalties under the HACRP.