Thirty-Day Hospital Readmissions Drop in 2012, CMS Reports

Rate of 30-day, all-cause hospital readmissions for the fourth quarter of 2012, per the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The figure had fluctuated between 18.5% and 19.5% the prior five years. The drop corresponds with the implementation of Medicare penalties for higher-than-expected readmission rates. Previous studies of readmissions, including the recent Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care report described in last month’s “Innovations” found little or no progress on reducing hospital readmissions.

Larry Beresford is a freelance writer in Oakland, Calif.

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