Examining Care Fragmentation After PAD Interventions: The Readmission Event

Abstract

Lower extremity revascularization (LER) for peripheral artery disease (PAD) is complicated by the frequent need for readmission either at the same facility or a different one than where the index LER was performed. Prior work using Vascular Quality Initiative data linked to Medicare claims has demonstrated that readmission rates after LER are 18% and 31% at 30 days and 90 days, respectively. It is unclear, however, if readmission at a nonindex LER facility compared with the index LER facility is associated with worse outcomes.