Reductions in readmission rates are associated with modest improvements in patient-reported health gains following hip and knee replacement in England

Friebel, Rocco ORCID: 0000-0003-1256-9096, Dharmarajan, Kumar, Krumholz, Harlan M. and Steventon, Adam (2017) Reductions in readmission rates are associated with modest improvements in patient-reported health gains following hip and knee replacement in England. Medical Care, 55 (9). pp. 834-840. ISSN 0025-7079

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Abstract

Background: Although many hospital readmission reduction initiatives have been introduced globally, health care systems ultimately aim to improve patients' health and well-being. We examined whether the hospitals that report greater success in reducing readmissions also see greater improvements in patient-reported outcomes. Research Design: We examined hospital groups (Trusts) that provided hip replacement or knee replacement surgery in England between April 2010 and February 2013. For each Trust, we calculated risk-Adjusted 30-day readmission rates from administrative datasets. We also obtained changes in patient-reported health between presurgical assessment and 6-month follow-up, using general health EuroQuol five dimensions questionaire (EQ-5D) and EuroQuol visual analogue scales (EQ-VAS) and procedure-specific (Oxford Hip and Knee Scores) measures. Panel models were used to assess whether changes over time in risk-Adjusted readmission rates were associated with changes over time in risk-Adjusted health gains. Results: Each percentage point reduction in the risk-Adjusted readmission rate for hip replacement was associated with an additional health gain of 0.004 for EQ-5D [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.002-0.006], 0.39 for EQ-VAS (95% CI, 0.26-0.52), and 0.32 for Oxford Hip Score (95% CI, 0.15-0.27). Corresponding figures for knee replacement were 0.003 for EQ-5D (95% CI, 0.001-0.004), 0.21 for EQ-VAS (95% CI, 0.12-0.30), and 0.14 in the Oxford Knee Score (95% CI, 0.09-0.20). Conclusions: Reductions in readmission rates were associated with modest improvements in patients' sense of their health and well-being at the hospital group level. In particular, fears that efforts to reduce readmission rates have had unintended consequences for patients appear to be unfounded.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://journals.lww.com/lww-medicalcare/pages/def...
Additional Information:	© 2017 The Authors
Divisions:	Health Policy
Date Deposited:	28 Nov 2019 12:24
Last Modified:	28 Jan 2024 18:57
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/102670

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