Aug 22, 2013: Hospital leaders are under a lot of stress these days. From concerns about razor-thin operating margins and patient and employee safety to HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) scores and the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program -- it all adds up to a lot of things that hospital leaders must worry about simultaneously.

And now comes another addition to the worry list: the critical nature of readmissions. For decades, many observers have viewed readmission rates as a fair surrogate for quality of care. If you discharged your patients and they didn't need to return, then their care was satisfactory. If you discharged your patients and they were readmitted, then their care could have -- and maybe should have -- been better.

Outside link:
Non-adherent patients are twice as likely to be readmitted to hospital than patients that adhere to post-discharge plan of care