18.6% of Surgical Patients Discharged to an Inpatient Facility

UCLA recently conducted an analysis of post-acute care decisions for surgical patients at 217 hospitals. Here are some key findings from the report:

·         18.6% of patients were discharged to an inpatient facility (IF).

·         1 in 5 (19.9%) patients were discharged with home health care (HHC).

·         Hospitals that referred patients to IF most often had a 30-day readmission rate of 24.1%.

·         Those who referred patients to inpatient facilities least often had 21.2% readmission rate.

·         Teaching hospitals referred patients to HHC 21.4% of the time, versus 18.0% for non-teaching hospitals.

·         Hospitals with the shortest length of stay used IF more frequently (24% versus 19.5%).

Source: UCLA, January 19, 2016