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For-profit hospitals associated with higher readmission rates

Receiving care in a for-profit hospital was linked to an increased risk for readmission, compared with public and nonprofit hospitals, according to research from PLOS One.

“Reducing preventable readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries is an effective way to not only reduce the exorbitantly rising cost in healthcare but also as a measure to improve the quality of patient care,” Manish Mittal, PhD, from the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues wrote. “Many of the previous efforts in reducing readmission rate of patients have not been very successful because of ill-defined quality measures, improper data collection methods and lack of effective strategies based on data driven solutions.”

Mittal and colleagues analyzed readmission data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Readmissions Reduction Program between 2012 and 2015 to compare readmission rates by hospital type, including public, for-profit and nonprofit. Only data for six major and common diseases, including acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, coronary artery bypass graft, pneumonia, COPD and total hip arthroplasty and/or total knee arthroplasty, were assessed.

The researchers found that readmission rates significantly differed among the different hospital types across the six major diseases studied. For-profit hospitals had statistically higher readmission rates for all six diseases, compared with public and nonprofit hospitals.

The differences between readmission rates and type of hospital were independent of their geographical location.

“It is remarkable to see such clear data in a study like this,” Andrew Boyd, MD, coauthor and associate professor of biomedical and health information sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Applied Health Sciences, said in a press release. “There is not a single category in which for-profit hospitals shined when it came to readmissions. This was unexpected. It was also surprising to see that the trend existed independent of geography.”

The data do not indicate reasons why readmission rates were worse among for-profit hospitals, according to the researchers, but they noted that it may be due to a lack of resources in for-profit hospitals because of higher taxes and an effort to maximize profit.

“This study shows an important national trend to which policymakers, health care providers, researchers and patients should pay attention, especially in light of a changing health care landscape marked by discussions on reimbursement rates and network consolidations, which are occurring across all types of hospitals,” Boyd said. – by Alaina Tedesco

Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.