Reducing Readmissions

As the health care landscape continues to evolve, significant emphasis is being placed on cost-effectiveness while maintaining quality care. Hospital readmissions are being used as one of the surrogates for quality health care as they have been shown to be a large percentage of potentially avoidable health care costs. Recent legislature now links reimbursement with hospital readmissions and hospitals may be penalized if they fall below the desired mark. Understanding the reasons for readmissions and implementing strategies to limit unplanned readmissions is necessary to avoid penalties and other disciplinary actions. There is growing literature regarding the rates, reasons, and predictors of neurosurgical readmissions in an effort to further our knowledge and ultimately decrease the amount of readmissions occurring within the field.