Prevalence, Reasons, and Predisposing Factors Associated with 30-day Hospital Readmissions in Poland

Jacek Kryś, Błażej Łyszczarz (), Zofia Wyszkowska and Kornelia Kędziora-Kornatowska
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Jacek Kryś: Antoni Jurasz University Hospital No. 1, 85-094 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Zofia Wyszkowska: Department of Organization and Management, Faculty of Management, University of Science and Technology, 85-790 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Kornelia Kędziora-Kornatowska: Department and Clinic of Geriatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, 85-094 Bydgoszcz, Poland

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 13, 1-14

Abstract: There is a growing interest in quality issues associated with hospital care, with readmissions (rehospitalizations) being one of the main areas of interest. Retrospective data from a 914-bed university hospital in Bydgoszcz, Poland, was used to identify 30-day readmissions in 2015. We developed a catalogue of reasons for rehospitalization and differentiated between planned and unplanned readmissions, as well as those related and unrelated to index (initial) hospitalization. Multilevel logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with readmission risk. A total of 12.5% of patients were readmitted within 30 days of being discharged. The highest readmission rates were identified in pediatric, transplantation, and urology patients. The highest share of readmissions was due to the specific nature of a disease and its routine treatment practice. Almost two-thirds of readmission cases were classified as unplanned and related to the index hospitalization. The following characteristics were associated with a higher risk of rehospitalization: female gender, residing >35 km from the hospital, longer than average and very short stays at index admission, higher comorbidity score, and admission to a high-volume hospital sector. Due to the importance of quality issues in health policy, the topic should be further pursued to identify evidence-based practices that would improve hospitals’ performance.

Keywords: patient readmission; hospitals; quality of healthcare; multilevel logistic regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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