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June 07, 2022 05:00 AM

Readmissions and rural hospitals

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    Hospitals in rural settings face a different challenge in controlling readmission rates than urban hospitals do.

    When rural hospitals don't have resources available to treat certain cases, they stabilize patients in order to transfer them to larger institutions with those resources. But if the patient is discharged and then develops complications, they might not return to the larger institution first.

    “The problem is that the patient may in fact have problems and then be readmitted to that same rural hospital,” said Jan Probst, director emerita of the Rural and Minority Health Research Center at the University of South Carolina and one of the authors of a 2019 study that examined transfers and 30-day readmissions at rural hospitals.

    “That’s where you get into the business of, ‘Hey, we send our patients off —they come back to the community too early, they need a readmit,’” she said.

    The 2019 study, “The Importance of Rural Hospitals: Transfers and 30-day Readmissions Among Rural Residents and Patients Presenting at Rural Hospitals,” did find the 30-day readmission rate was lower for patients who initially went to a rural hospital, even though rural patients are transferred at a higher rate than those in urban settings.

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    Rural hospitals and readmission penalties

    A Modern Healthcare analysis of 285 rural hospitals* found that total readmission reduction penalties decreased in 2021 compared with 2019. Total Medicare revenue also fell, but at a slower rate than penalties.

    *Hospitals with results available for 2019, 2020 and 2021.
     

    data analysis - rural health and readmissions

     

    Readmission penalties for rural hospitals, 2022

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      • Regional News
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      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
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      • Innovations
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      • Bold Moves
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      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
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        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
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      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
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