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Rate of readmission within 30 days for hospitalized IBD patients listed at 19%
SAN DIEGO — Almost one in five patients discharged from a hospital after an inflammatory bowel disease-related stay are readmitted within 30 days, and about half of those patients are readmitted with an IBD diagnosis, a speaker said here.
“Hospital readmissions present a significant financial and resource burden to the health care system,” Saurabh Sethi, MD, MPH, clinical gastroenterology/hepatology fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said during the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting. He said IBD patients account for more than 100,000 hospital stays annually in the United States.
Researchers analyzed the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database from January to November 2010 to allow for a 30-day readmission window within the calendar year. About 8 million hospital stays were included, Sethi said.
During the study period, 101,314 patients with IBD as primary diagnosis — specifically regional enteritis and ulcerative colitis — were discharged after a mean length of stay of 5.5 days and mean cost per hospital stay of $10,639.
Among the 94,732 with readmission data, 17,579 (19%) were readmitted within 30 days. Among those readmitted, 8,211 (9%) were readmitted with regional enteritis or ulcerative colitis as primary diagnosis; the mean cost was $12,619.
“Readmission rates are higher than those for GI hemorrhage,” Sethi said. “Costs of readmission are … similar to GI hemorrhage costs.”
The study was limited by its being an administrative data set, potential for data entry errors and lack of patient-level analysis, he said. Further study is needed to determine what factors are associated with risk for readmission.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
For more information:
Sethi S. #66: U.S. Readmission Rates and Costs Following Hospitalization for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Presented at: the 2013 American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting; Oct. 11-16, San Diego.