Study: Longer Hospital Stays May Result in Fewer Deaths, Readmissions

The axiom that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” appears to have new scientific evidence on its side.

A new study from Columbia Business School published online in The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER Working Paper No. 20499) compares the outcomes of one extra day in the hospital with outpatient care effects (in terms of readmissions, death rates and costs) for Medicare patients. It finds that the additional 24 hours has a significant impact on all three measures.

According to a Columbia Business School press release about the study, one more day of hospitalization reduces mortality risk for pneumonia patients by 22 percent and for heart attack patients by 7 percent. Another day in the hospital was also shown to decrease readmission rates for severe heart-failure patients by 7 percent and result in five to six times as many lives being saved compared to outpatient care.

Saving Lives and Saving Money

In addition to the patient benefits of a longer hospital stay, there may be a large taxpayer benefit. As the researchers note, Medicare patient readmissions occur at a rate of 20 percent and cost approximately $17 billion per year.

The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, established under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, seeks to solve that problem by imposing financial penalties on hospitals with high readmission rates for Medicare patients. Penalties are set to increase in 2015 to a ceiling of 3 percent of Medicare reimbursements.

“Given the stiff penalties imposed under the Affordable Care Act, hospitals are implementing a variety of approaches to aggressively reduce readmission rates, most commonly involving outpatient care,” lead researcher Ann P. Bartel said in the Columbia Business School press release. “While some types of outpatient interventions can be effective, our study shows that hospitals should consider keeping some of their patients in the hospital longer to better control patient care, reduce readmissions and ensure fewer deaths.”

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) penalties began their third year in October. According to Kaiser Health News, CMS will over the next year fine a record number of hospitals – 2,610facilities, including 39 hospitals receiving the largest possible fine.

As Kaiser reports, around 2 million boomeranging Medicare patients cost the program $26 billion per year, and that $17 billion of that results from potentially avoidable readmissions.

If you or a loved one has suffered an adverse medical outcome after being discharged from the hospital too soon, contact the Seattle malpractice attorneys at Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC, to discuss your situation. We are experienced in navigating the system for bringing medical malpractice claims against Medicare providers and are happy to answer any questions you have about the process of seeking compensation for preventable medical errors.