Current Medicare Risk Adjustment Factors Do Not Explain Most Variation In Hospital Readmission Rates

Current Medicare 30-day hospital readmission risk adjustment factors do not explain most of the variation in hospital readmission rates between hospitals with the highest rates and hospitals with the lowest rates. Based on the current Medicare adjustments--patient age, sex, discharge diagnosis, and recent diagnoses--the probability of readmission from 2009 through 2012 ranged from 19.45% at hospitals with the highest rates to 15.04% at hospitals with the lowest rates, a difference of 4.41 percentage points. However, an analysis of 29 differences in patient characteristics related to readmissions at hospitals with the highest and lowest rates . . .