AHRQ Stats: Highest Hospital Readmission Rates

Thirty-day all-cause hospital readmission rates in 2014 were highest for patients with congestive heart failure (23.2 per 100 admissions), schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders (22.9), and respiratory failure (21.6). (Source: AHRQ, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #230: A Comparison of All-Cause 7-Day and 30-Day Readmissions, 2014.)

A Comparison of All-Cause 7-Day and 30-Day Readmissions, 2014

Kathryn R. Fingar, Ph.D., M.P.H., Marguerite L. Barrett, M.S., and H. Joanna Jiang, Ph.D.

Highlights

In 2014, 14 percent of inpatient stays were readmitted within 30 days. More than one-third of these readmissions occurred within 7 days, reflecting a 7-day readmission rate of 5 percent.

Diagnoses at index stays with the highest 7-day and 30-day readmission rates were similar. Schizophrenia, alcohol-related disorders, and congestive heart failure were among the leading diagnoses with both the highest 7-day and 30-day readmission rates.

However, there were several differences in diagnoses associated with the two types of rates. Index stays with intestinal obstruction without hernia and acute myocardial infarction ranked in the top 20 diagnoses with the highest 7-day, but not 30-day, readmission rates.

For both 7-day and 30-day readmissions, the rate of readmission was highest among patients with Medicare, followed by patients with Medicaid, no insurance, and private insurance.

Among Medicaid patients who were discharged with congestive heart failure or schizophrenia at the index stay, nearly 1 in 10 stays resulted in readmission within 7 days.

Among patients readmitted within 30 days of an index stay for septicemia or schizophrenia, uninsured patients were more likely than patients with insurance to return within 7 days.