Dive Brief:
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Sepsis is the most common cause of readmissions among conditions tracked by CMS in 30-day readmission rates, according to new research published by JAMA.
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Sepsis accounted for 12.2%, heart failure for 6.7%, pneumonia for 5%, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for 4.6%, and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) for 1.3% of the 1,187,697 readmissions included in the 2013 Nationwide Readmissions Database, findings show.
- The condition was not only the most common cause of readmissions, the mean length of stay for sepsis readmissions was also longer than for AMI, heart failure, COPD, and pneumonia.
Dive Insight:
Value-based care initiatives are targeting sepsis readmissions and with good reason. Sepsis, otherwise known as blood poisoning, is a common, deadly condition that cost the healthcare system more than $23 billion in 2013, and preventing it has become a public health priority, according to the CDC. In addition, the cost of sespis hospitalizations to Medicare in 2013 totaled $7.2 billion.
The researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System concluded that adding sepsis to the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program. could prompt providers to develop strategies for reducing readmissions associated with sepsis. CMS will begin penalizing hospitals for some sepsis readmissions through the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program this fiscal year, though the program was implemented by the federal healthcare law (ACA) that Republicans plan to rollback in the near future.
Some hospitals have had success bringing down readmission rates for sepsis. Readmissions for preventable conditions like sepsis are much more common at some hospitals than others. One model for sepsis prevention, developed at the Middle Tennessee State University, appears to predict susceptibility for sepsis with 95% accuracy, according to the Daily News Journal.