CMS: Vermont only state that hasn't reduced hospital readmissions

by: Roy Edroso Sep 14, 2016

Every U.S. state except Vermont reduced its 30-day, all-condition hospital readmission rate over five years, according to a Sept. 13 CMS announcement.

Cutting avoidable hospital readmission rates is a high priority for the agency; the Affordable Care Act mandates payment cuts to hospitals that get too many return visitors, and even practice physicians can be dunned for their own patients' recidivism via CMS' quality-reporting programs.

CMS' announcement revealed that the agency had tracked readmissions from 2010 through 2015 and found that 49 states and the District of Columbia had seen at least some drop. Only Vermont's rate went up -- but only by one-tenth of a percent, to 15.4%, which "correlates to 21 additional readmissions," CMS says.

CMS notes that 43 states saw readmission rates drop by 5% or more, and in 11 states, rates fell 10% or more. Hawaii had the biggest drop at 13.4%, though New Jersey was not far behind with a 13.3% reduction.

"Across states, Medicare beneficiaries avoided approximately 100,000 readmissions in 2015 alone," CMS says.

Blog Tags: CMS, health care reform, quality of care

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