A revolving door at Mass. hospitals
Massachusetts hospitals are doing slightly better at keeping newly-discharged patients from coming right back, but the state still has one of the highest readmission rates in the nation, according to new federal data.
Of about 198,000 Medicare patients admitted to Massachusetts hospitals last year, 17.90 percent were readmitted within 30 days, according to an analysis released recently by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The rate dropped from 19 percent in 2010. But the improvement was smaller than in many other states, and Massachusetts remained one of a half-dozen states that readmit the highest percent of Medicare patients.
Preventable readmissions of patients within a month of discharge is considered a driver of the nation’s high medical costs — accounting for more than an estimated $17 billion annually in Medicare spending alone. But returning to the hospital so soon also can be a sign of poor care, and deeply upsetting for patients who thought they were on the road to recovery.
Some very sick patients do need to go back to the hospital for intensive monitoring or potent intravenous medications. But health care experts believe many readmissions can be avoided if patients receive good follow-up care to catch problems early.
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