Researchers looked at hospital readmission rates at 11 Ontario hospitals in five cities. The study included 4,812 patients admitted with a broad range of illnesses. Of the discharged patients, 649 (13.5 percent) were readmitted to the emergency department after discharge. One-hundred and four (16 percent) of these readmissions were deemed avoidable by physician peer review.
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Although readmission rates between hospitals varied significantly from 7.5-22.5 percent, hospitals did not vary significantly by avoidable readmission rates, questioning the use of urgent readmission rates to measure quality of care. The authors conclude that urgent readmission rates should only be used cautiously as a measure of quality of hospital care.
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