A recent study from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) investigated the reasons behind hospital readmission following surgery.
Results showed that “readmissions after surgery were associated with new postdischarge complications related to the procedure and not exacerbation of prior index hospitalization complications, suggesting that readmissions after surgery are a measure of postdischarge complications.” The study analyzed data from 346 hospitals involved in an American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program in 2012.
The research suggests that “understanding the reasons for readmission, the timing and the associated factors should help hospitals to undertake targeted quality improvement initiatives to reduce readmissions.”
