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Readmission Rates For Hospitalized Patients With Heart Failure

According to a recent study published in Circulation: Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association, approximately 25% of heart failure patients with Medicare are readmitted to the hospital within a month after discharge.

Heart failure occurs when a heart weakened by disease can no longer pump effectively.

The researchers used data from Medicare for 2004 through 2006 to identify all recipients over age 65 that went to the hospital for heart failure and were discharged. 

There were 570,996 distinct hospitalizations for heart failure in which the patient was discharged in 4,728 hospitals in 2004; 544,550 in 4,694 hospitals in 2005; and 501,234 in 4,674 hospitals in 2006.  Readmission rates were virtually identical over this period: 23.0% in 2004, 23.3% in 2005, and 22.9% in 2006.

The researchers concluded that Medicare beneficiaries discharged after heart failure hospitalization have not changed in recent years, indicating that there was neither improvement in hospital readmission rates nor in hospital variations in rates over this time period.

If you or someone you love suffered injury or death because of delay in the diagnosis or treatment of heart disease, you should contact the attorneys at Berger & Lagnese for a free consultation.

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