A Large Number of Patients Re-Admitted after Open Heart Surgery

A New York clinical study shows

Hospital readmissions contribute substantially to the overall healthcare cost. Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is of particular interest due to its relatively high short-term readmission rates and mean hospital charges.

This study was performed by Robert Feng at Al, Weill Cornell Medicine-New York Presbyterian Hospital, Department of Anaesthesiology, including data from California, Florida and New York.

Insurance status was categorized by Medicaid, Medicare, Private Insurance, Uninsured, and Other. Primary outcomes were unadjusted rates and adjusted odds of readmission at 30- and 90-days. Secondary outcomes included diagnosis at readmission.

A total of 177,229 were included in the analyses.

Overall 30-day readmission rate was 16.1%.

90-day rates were 24.0%.

The most common 30 and 90 day readmission diagnoses were atrial fibrillation (26.7%), pleural effusion (22.5%), and wound infection (17.7%).

Understanding these factors will be key to improving healthcare outcomes and expenditure.

Link to the study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29678620/

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