Does Travel Distance Affect Readmission Rates after Cardiac Surgery?

With emphasis on value-based health care, empiric models are used to estimate expected readmission rates for individual institutions. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between distance traveled to seek surgical care and likelihood of readmission in adult patients undergoing cardiac operations at a single medical center. All adults undergoing major cardiac surgeries from 2008 to 2015 were included. Patients were stratified by travel distance into regional and distant travel groups. Multivariable logistic regression models were developed to assess the impact of distance traveled on odds of readmission. Of the 4232 patients analyzed, 29 per cent were in the regional group and 71 per cent in the distant. Baseline characteristics between the two groups were comparable except mean age (62 vs 61 years, P < 0.01) and Caucasian race (59 vs 73%, P < 0.01). Distant travel was associated with a significantly longer hospital length of stay (11.8 vs 10.5 days, P < 0.01) and lower risk of readmission (9.5 vs 13.4%, P < 0.01). Odds of readmission was inversely associated with logarithm of distance traveled (odds ratio 0.75). Travel distance in patients undergoing major cardiac surgeries was inversely associated with odds of readmission.