CHIA RELEASES HOSPITAL-WIDE ADULT ALL-PAYER READMISSIONS IN MASSACHUSETTS: SFY 2011-2021
DATE: February 23, 2023
CHIA published today its most recent report on Hospital-Wide Adult All-Payer Readmissions in Massachusetts: SFY 2011-2021. Unplanned hospital readmissions can be used as an indicator of health system performance and have been a key measure of health system quality and value since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010.
This report is the eighth in CHIA’s annual series of all-payer readmission reports and updates previous reports with State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2021 data (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021). This report includes enhanced quarterly detail on hospital utilization and readmissions during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, from SFY 2019 to 2021, as well as a section on COVID-19 readmissions.
Additionally, this is the second report to include a revised methodology to compare hospital readmission rates. Guided by recommendations from an expert committee on social risk factors, enhancements were made to the calculation of risk-standardized readmission rates to provide a more equitable basis for comparison of hospital performance.
KEY FINDINGS:
- The unplanned, all-payer readmission rate for Massachusetts stayed the same from 2020 to 2021, at 16.0%. Medicare and Medicaid patients had higher rates (18.2% and 17.0%, respectively) than commercially insured patients (10.3%).
- Readmission rates for patients hospitalized with any diagnosis of COVID-19 were consistently lower than for patients hospitalized for reasons other than COVID-19, 11.7% vs. 15.6%, respectively, in the last quarter of SFY 2021.
- Patients with four or more hospitalizations within 12 months accounted for half (50%) of all readmissions.
This report is also accompanied by a detailed databook and technical appendix.
For additional analysis and coverage of hospital readmissions and revisits in Massachusetts, please visit https://www.chiamass.gov/hospital-wide-adult-all-payer-readmissions-and-revisits-in-massachusetts/.