Efforts to reduce hospital readmissions are working, but they don’t always save money, according to a review of 50 quality improvement studies published yesterday by JAMA Internal Medicine. The quality improvement interventions examined reduced readmissions by an average 12.1% for heart failure patients and 6.3% for older adults with diverse health issues, but their economic impact to the health systems varied from average net savings of $972 per person among heart failure patients to average net losses of $169 per person among other patients. “Our findings suggest that there is no guarantee of net cost savings once the implementation costs associated with efforts to prevent readmissions are considered,” said lead author Teryl Nuckols, M.D., director of the division of general internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Related News Articles

Headline
The AHA Quest for Quality Prize honors hospitals and health systems committed to leadership and innovation in improving quality and advancing health. Learn how…
Headline
A JAMA study published Aug. 20 found that nearly 63% of all U.S. drug production facilities from 2019 through 2024 were in counties where a weather disaster…
Blog
Read about the 2025 Quest for Quality Prize winner and finalist — and apply for the 2026 awardEach day, health care professionals across the U.S. leverage…
Perspective
Public
Hospitals and health systems across the country vary in size, as well as the types of services and specialties they offer. They also offer many different…
Headline
The AHA Aug. 7 launched a new webpage, Reducing Disparities in Health Outcomes, featuring new and familiar resources for members and their communities. As part…
Headline
Nell Buhlman, chief administrative officer and head of strategy at Press Ganey, and Chris DeRienzo, M.D., AHA chief physician executive, explore the data-…