Geographic Region and Profit Status Drive Variation in Hospital Readmission Outcomes Among Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities in the United States

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine whether there are differences in inpatient rehabilitation facilities' (IRFs') all-cause 30-day postdischarge hospital readmission rates vary by organizational characteristics and geographic regions. DesignObservational study. SettingIRFs. ParticipantsMedicare fee-for-service beneficiaries discharged from all IRFs nationally in 2013 and 2014 (N = 1166 IRFs). InterventionsNot applicable. Main Outcome MeasuresWe applied specifications for an existing quality measure adopted by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for public reporting that assesses all-cause unplanned hospital readmission measure for 30 days postdischarge from inpatient rehabilitation. We estimated facility-level observed and risk-standardized readmission rates and then examined variation by several organizational characteristics (facility type, profit status, teaching status, proportion of low-income patients, size) and geographic factors (rural/urban, census division, state). ResultsIRFs’ mean risk-standardized hospital readmission rate was 13.00%±0.77%. After controlling for organizational characteristics and practice patterns, we found substantial variation in IRFs' readmission rates: for-profit IRFs had significantly higher readmission rates than did not-for-profit IRFs (P<.001). We also found geographic variation: IRFs in the South Atlantic and South Central census regions had the highest hospital readmission rates than did IRFs in New England that had the lowest rates. ConclusionsOur findings point to variation in quality of care as measured by risk-standardized hospital readmission rates after IRF discharge. Thus, monitoring of readmission outcomes is important to encourage quality improvement in discharge care planning, care transitions, and follow-up.