Hospital readmissions among the elderly.

This paper investigates the six-month hospital readmission rates among 444 patients 65 years of age or older admitted to a large metropolitan teaching hospital who had a primary discharge diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease, hip fracture, or congestive heart failure. Twenty-four percent were readmitted to the same institution one or more times during the six-month follow-up. Striking variability was observed in use of hospitals across these diagnostic groups. Patients with a primary diagnosis of congestive heart failure were at highest risk of hospital readmission (36%). Multiple readmissions among the congestive heart failure group were prevalent. These preliminary data suggest that hospital readmission among the aged is a complex multifaceted phenomena.