Why the study?
Decreases in 30-day readmissions after HRRP implementation coincided with rising hospital observation stay use, which is not captured in standard readmission measures.
Does the implementation of the Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) reduce 30-day readmissions in Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries when accounting for observation stays?
Population
8 944 295 hospitalizations among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries
Comparison
Target conditions (heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, pneumonia) vs nontarget conditions before and after HRRP
Design
Retrospective cohort differences-in-differences analysis
Follow-up
30 days
Authors
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HRRP-linked HF and AMI readmission drops should not yet change quality metrics; leaves open whether the program reduced true unplanned returns.
Does the implementation of the Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) reduce 30-day readmissions in Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries when accounting for observation stays?
More than half of the reported decrease in 30-day readmissions under the HRRP for target conditions like heart failure and AMI is attributable to reclassifying inpatient admissions as observation stays.
Sabbatini et al. (2022) studied this question.
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