Latest News On Readmissions

Latest KFF Health News Stories

364 Hospitals Have High Rates Of Overall Readmissions, New Medicare Data Show

KFF Health News Original

Medicare’s new comprehensive measure of hospital readmissions shows that at least 20 percent of the hospitals in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island have higher rates of patients returning than the national average. Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah and Washington led the states with the highest proportion […]

Q&A: What Hospital Readmissions Statistics Mean For Consumers

KFF Health News Original

This story comes from our partner The federal government began fining hospitals based on how many Medicare patients were readmitted within 30 days of discharge in October. They track three specific conditions: heart failure, congestive heart failure and pneumonia. The goal is to improve the quality of care for seniors by preventing return trips to […]

Medicare Effort To Cut Readmissions Isn’t Counting Patients Who Come Back To ER

KFF Health News Original

A study published Tuesday says Medicare may be missing factors that lead to post-hospital health problems because it isn’t counting many discharged patients who come back to the emergency room but aren’t admitted. The study in Annals of Emergency Medicine looked at 11,976 patients discharged from Boston Medical Center, the largest safety net hospital in New […]

Medicare Revises Hospitals’ Readmissions Penalties

KFF Health News Original

Federal officials made small errors in calculating how much hospitals will be docked for having too many patients return within 30 days. Many hospitals will lose a bit more money under revised calculations.

Medicare’s Pay For Performance Effort Begins, Targeting Quality and Readmissions

KFF Health News Original

Monday is the start of the federal fiscal year, and with it begins Medicare’s biggest effort yet at paying for performance. Starting Oct. 1, Medicare is withholding 1 percent of its regular hospital reimbursements in the new Value-Based Purchasing Program, which was created by the 2010 health care law. Over the course of the year, […]

Hospital Readmission Rates Dropping Slightly, New Study Finds

KFF Health News Original

A new government analysis has found that hospital readmission rates of Medicare patients have fallen more than previously reported, bolstering hope that hospitals are having some success at tackling this stubborn and expensive problem. Hospital readmissions have been getting extensive attention as a new penalty program kicks in next month, which will cost hospitals as […]

Hospitals Tally Likely Costs From New Readmissions Penalties

KFF Health News Original

Across the country, hospitals are estimating how much money they are going to forfeit when Medicare’s new penalties for excess readmissions kick in. Hospitals are also issuing divergent verdicts on whether they think the program is a good idea or not. Starting in October, 2,211 hospitals will lose a portion of their regular Medicare reimbursements […]