Readmissions – Heart Failure
This indicator reports the average 30-day rate of readmission for heart failure patients in selected hospitals* within the report area. Readmission measures are estimates of the rate of unplanned readmission to an acute care hospital in the 30 days after discharge from a hospitalization due to heart failure.
*For a list of hospitals within the report area, see the data tables below.
Source
Source Description
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the federal agency that runs the Medicare Program and monitors Medicaid programs offered by each state. Medicare is a type of federally-funded health insurance available to disabled persons and the population age 65 and older. The Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed a public use file to support further analysis of the geographic variation in the amount and quality of the health care services that Medicare beneficiaries receive. For more information, please see the Geographic Variation Public Use File Methodology document.
Methodology
Data are obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare databases. Hospital Compare has information about the quality of care at over 4,000 Medicare-certified hospitals, including over 130 Veterans Administration (VA) medical centers, across the country. The readmission measures provided in Hospital Compare are estimates of the rate of unplanned readmission to an acute care hospital in the 30 days after discharge from a hospitalization. Patients may have had an unplanned readmission for any reason.
Limitations of Geographic Summaries
Data from Hospital Compare are summarized to geographic areas based on the location of the hospital. Scores for counties, states, and report areas do not necessarily reflect the conditions of patients residing in the underlying areas. Hospitals may serve a large area extending beyond the borders of a county, particularly when they are located near the border of two or more geographic units.
Data Inclusion Rules
These measures include hospitalizations for Medicare beneficiaries 65 or older who were enrolled in Original Medicare for at least 12 months before their hospital admission and maintained enrollment through 30 days after their original discharge. The readmission and hospital return days measures do not include patients who died during the index admission, or who left the hospital against medical advice. For more details on how the rates of readmission are calculated, please refer to QualityNet – Readmission Measures.
Data Breakouts Available
- Readmissions for Heart Failure – Hospital Data
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