Articles
Readmission destination and risk of mortality after major surgery: an observational cohort study Benjamin S Brooke, Philip P Goodney, Larry W Kraiss, Daniel J Gottlieb, Matthew H Samore, Samuel R G Finlayson
Summary Background Hospital readmissions are common after major surgery, although it is unknown whether patients achieve improved outcomes when they are readmitted to, and receive care at, the index hospital where their surgical procedure was done. We examined the association between readmission destination and mortality risk in the USA in Medicare beneficiaries after a range of common operations. Methods By use of claims data from Medicare beneficiaries in the USA between Jan 1, 2001, and Nov 15, 2011, we assessed patients who needed hospital readmission within 30 days after open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, infrainguinal arterial bypass, aortobifemoral bypass, coronary artery bypass surgery, oesophagectomy, colectomy, pancreatectomy, cholecystectomy, ventral hernia repair, craniotomy, hip replacement, or knee replacement. We used logistic regression models incorporating inverse probability weighting and instrumental variable analysis to measure associations between readmission destination (index vs non-index hospital) and risk of 90 day mortality for patients who underwent surgery who needed hospital readmission. Findings 9 440 503 patients underwent one of 12 major operations, and the number of patients readmitted or transferred back to the index hospital where their operation was done varied from 186 336 (65·8%) of 283 131 patients who were readmitted after coronary artery bypass grafting, to 142 142 (83·2%) of 170 789 patients who were readmitted after colectomy. Readmission was more likely to be to the index hospital than to a non-index hospital if the readmission was for a surgical complication (189 384 [23%] of 834 070 patients readmitted to index hospital vs 36 792 [13%] of 276 976 patients readmitted non-index hospital, p
Readmission destination and risk of mortality after major surgery: an observational cohort study Benjamin S Brooke, Philip P Goodney, Larry W Kraiss, Daniel J Gottlieb, Matthew H Samore, Samuel R G Finlayson
Summary Background Hospital readmissions are common after major surgery, although it is unknown whether patients achieve improved outcomes when they are readmitted to, and receive care at, the index hospital where their surgical procedure was done. We examined the association between readmission destination and mortality risk in the USA in Medicare beneficiaries after a range of common operations. Methods By use of claims data from Medicare beneficiaries in the USA between Jan 1, 2001, and Nov 15, 2011, we assessed patients who needed hospital readmission within 30 days after open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, infrainguinal arterial bypass, aortobifemoral bypass, coronary artery bypass surgery, oesophagectomy, colectomy, pancreatectomy, cholecystectomy, ventral hernia repair, craniotomy, hip replacement, or knee replacement. We used logistic regression models incorporating inverse probability weighting and instrumental variable analysis to measure associations between readmission destination (index vs non-index hospital) and risk of 90 day mortality for patients who underwent surgery who needed hospital readmission. Findings 9 440 503 patients underwent one of 12 major operations, and the number of patients readmitted or transferred back to the index hospital where their operation was done varied from 186 336 (65·8%) of 283 131 patients who were readmitted after coronary artery bypass grafting, to 142 142 (83·2%) of 170 789 patients who were readmitted after colectomy. Readmission was more likely to be to the index hospital than to a non-index hospital if the readmission was for a surgical complication (189 384 [23%] of 834 070 patients readmitted to index hospital vs 36 792 [13%] of 276 976 patients readmitted non-index hospital, p
