Question

how many senior on medicare are readmitted with in 30 days and how much money is spent?

Answer 1

Ans) Numerous studies, including one published earlier this year in the Journal of Healthcare Quality, have found that race, gender, age and income are good predictors of 30-day readmissions. For example, the study found that women treated for heart attacks were 17 percent more likely to be readmitted within 30 days.

- 18 percent of Medicare hospitalizations result in readmissions within 30 days of discharge. The MedPAC report said these readmissions account for $15 billion in spending, $12 billion of which are potentially preventable.

- Medicare counts the readmission of patients who returned to a hospital within 30 days even if that hospital is not the one that originally treated them. In those cases, the penalty is applied to the first hospital. This year's penalties are based on discharges from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2018.