Readmission rates, 30 days and 365 days postdischarge, among the 20 most frequent DRG groups, Medicare inpatients age 65 or older in Connecticut hospitals, fiscal years 1991, 1992, and 1993.

This report presents readmission rates following inpatient admissions for the 20 most frequent DRG categories among Medicare inpatients age > or = 65 years, at Connecticut acute-care hospitals during the three-year period FY 1991 to FY 1993. We provide frequency distributions of the 30-day and 365-day readmission rates within these 20 DRG categories. Among the 184,490 discharges of elderly Medicare beneficiaries, discharged alive, who were included in the 20 most frequent DRG categories in the three-year study period, the crude 30-day readmission rate was 15.6%; the crude 365-day readmission rate was 46.9%. By gender, the crude 30-day readmission rate for women was 15.1%; the corresponding rate for men was 17.8%. This gender readmission difference occurred in the context of a significant age differential; on average, the females were 2.5 years older than the males. By age group, the crude readmission rates were: age 65 to 74 years, 16.5%; age 75 to 84 years, 16.8%; age > or = 85 years, 14.6%. With the exception of the DRG category representing cancer (all types), within which there was a significant decrease in readmission rates over the three years examined, the crude readmission rates for the DRG categories were found to be stable over the three-year study period.