Letter by Wasfy et al Regarding Article, “Facility Level Variation in Hospitalization, Mortality, and Costs in the 30 Days After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Insights on Short-Term Healthcare Value From the Veterans Affairs Clinical Assessment, Reporting, and Tracking System (VA CART) Program”

Abstract

Bradley et al1 make substantial contributions to our understanding of costs during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) episodes of care. The authors conclude, among other things, that the financial savings of reducing PCI readmission is limited, because readmission costs account for only 5.8% of the total cost of PCI care for all patients. By examining readmission costs as a proportion of total PCI costs, however, the cost of readmissions appear relatively small. The denominator used in the analysis includes PCI costs for all patients, including those patients not readmitted. Because only a fraction of all patients are …