Readmission drop for New York hospitals, but rates remain highest in the country
About 90 percent of New York hospitals will be penalized next year, and while that number is high, it's down 3 percent from 2018.
WHAT HAPPENED
Readmission rates dipped a bit in 2017 for New York hospitals -- that's the good news. The bad news is that the state still has the nation's highest rate, at least according to a new analysis from Kaiser Health News.
IMPACT
About 16 percent of patients at New York hospitals were readmitted within a 30-day window by the end of June 2017. Hospitals face federal reimbursement penalties if they underperform on the 30-day readmission metric. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service withhold as much as 3 percent of a hospital's Medicare reimbursement, depending on the numbers.
The analysis found that 90 percent of New York hospitals will be penalized next year -- a high number for sure, but down 3 percent from 2018. The average penalty will be a 0.85 percent reduction in Medicare reimbursement, again a slight improvement.
Some facilities, such as Albany Memorial Hospital, will face no penalties. Others, such as Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson, will see a 0.92 percent reimbursement dip.
THE TREND
CMS started penalizing hospitals based on readmission rates a few years ago, having been authorized to do so by the Affordable Care Act. Since then, it's become a common area for hospitals to focus on as they seek ways to avoid reimbursement cuts.
Some have proposed patient education as a possible strategy. Experts such as emergency medicine physician Kristin Rising, MD, have suggested patients are uncertain how to manage their symptoms, which symptoms might be a sign of disease worsening, or even where to go with questions. She developed an "uncertainty scale" to help hospitals hone in on solutions.
Work still needs to be done to bridge the readmissions gap between caucasians and minorities. Research has shown that despite some reductions in disparities, black-white gaps still persisted, and that minority-serving hospitals -- which disproportionately care for black Medicare patients -- were still more likely to be penalized by the Medicare program.
Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com
