Unplanned readmission to hospital within seven or 30 days | HQCA Focus

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Unplanned readmission to hospital within seven or 30 days

Percentage of patients who were sent home from hospital, and then readmitted within seven or 30 days. (see data definition)

  • Data courtesy of Alberta Health Services. Please note, this measure is updated at least one month after other measures in the Hospital Care section of this site to account for the 30-day readmission window. Also, delivery of care measures, like this one, exclude the remaining smaller hospitals because data is inconsistent at these hospitals.

What do you see?

  • What do the trends in seven- and 30-day hospital readmissions indicate about the quality of care provided (keeping in mind some readmissions are unavoidable)?
  • Would the higher readmission rates warrant further investigation into discharge planning and continuity of services after discharge?

Why is it meaningful?

  • Whether you’re a patient, provider, or health system administrator, thinking about this measure can start conversations and lead to solutions for improved quality of healthcare.
  • Do you see successes worth highlighting or opportunities for improvement?

Understanding "unplanned readmissions to hospital within seven or 30 days"

Unplanned readmissions to a hospital following an inpatient stay can be a measure of quality of care and care coordination. While not all readmissions may be avoidable, some reasons for readmission that may be manageable include:

  • the quality of intervention and care during hospitalization
  • coordination with community care
  • medication appropriateness upon discharge
  • effectiveness of post-discharge therapies
  • availability of appropriate diagnostic or therapeutic technologies during the initial hospital stay
  • the patient’s ability to manage their ongoing health needs once home

Interventions during and after hospitalization can be effective at reducing readmission rates, while improving patient experience and hospitalization cost management.

Considerations when reviewing the results

  • Only unplanned readmissions are captured via this measure. Hospital admissions planned in advance (e.g. scheduled surgeries) are not included.
  • Given that readmissions due to all causes are captured, it is possible that patients may be readmitted to hospital for a completely different health concern/episode of care. For example, a patient hospitalized due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may return home and soon after, fall and break their hip, requiring another admission to hospital.

Alberta Quality Matrix for Health

The Health Quality Council of Alberta uses the Alberta Quality Matrix for Health as a way of organizing information and thinking around the complexity of the healthcare system. This measure can be used as input to assess hospital performance in these dimensions of quality: Acceptability, Appropriateness, Effectiveness, and Safety.

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