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Invited Commentary
Jan 23, 2012

Prediction Is Very Hard, Especially About the Future: Comment on “Factors Associated With 30-Day Readmission Rates After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention”

Author Affiliations

Author Affiliations: Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.

Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(2):117-119. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.568

Cardiovascular hospitalization and its early aftermath define a period of vulnerability,1 during which clinical deterioration leads to readmission. Since readmission is common, expensive, and varies across hospitals, suggesting preventable events, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has identified readmission as an opportunity to improve quality of care and reduce costs. Since the CMS began publicly reporting hospital readmission rates in 2009 and now plans to link reimbursement to processes and outcomes through value-based purchasing, health systems have devoted increased resources to reducing readmissions following specific conditions, such as heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, and pneumonia.2 Moving forward, there are emerging plans to expand hospital readmission profiling across medical and surgical diagnoses.3

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