Why do we evaluate 30-day readmissions in general medicine? A historical perspective and contemporary data

Jonathan James; Sheryn Tan; Brandon Stretton; Joshua G Kovoor; Aashray K Gupta; Samuel Gluck; Toby Gilbert; Yogesh Sharma; Stephen Bacchi

doi:10.1111/imj.16115

Why do we evaluate 30-day readmissions in general medicine? A historical perspective and contemporary data

Intern Med J. 2023 Jun;53(6):1070-1075. doi: 10.1111/imj.16115. Epub 2023 Jun 5.

Authors

Jonathan James¹, Sheryn Tan², Brandon Stretton^{2

3}, Joshua G Kovoor^{2

3

4}, Aashray K Gupta^{2

5}, Samuel Gluck^{2

6}, Toby Gilbert^{2

3}, Yogesh Sharma¹, Stephen Bacchi^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
² University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
³ Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
⁴ Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
⁵ Gold Coast University Hospital, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
⁶ Lyell McEwin Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

PMID: 37278138
DOI: 10.1111/imj.16115

Abstract

Reducing preventable readmissions is important to help manage current strains on healthcare systems. The metric of 30-day readmissions is commonly cited in discussions regarding this topic. While such thresholds have contemporary funding implications, the rationale for individual cut-off points is partially historical in nature. Through the examination of the basis for the analysis of 30-day readmissions, greater insight into the possible benefits and limitations of such a metric may be obtained.

Keywords: internal medicine; policy; readmission; reimbursement.

MeSH terms

General Practice*
Humans
Patient Readmission*
Retrospective Studies
Time Factors