Readmission Risk Calculator Beneficial for Inpatient Rehabilitation Setting

Researchers developed multivariable risk factor algorithms to assess 30-day readmission risk for patients admitted to acute care from the inpatient rehabilitation facility setting, according to findings published in JAMDA.

Utilizing the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation between 2015 and 2019, investigators performed a retrospective database analysis. The study included 956 US inpatient rehabilitation facilities and 1,849,768 inpatient rehabilitation facility discharges, which comprised patients from 14 impairment groups.

Of 956 patients, 50.7% were women, 78.3% were Caucasian, and the mean cohort age was 68.7 years. According to researchers, the primary payer for 73.1% of the study population was Medicare.

For each impairment group the final models included between 4 and 13 total predictor variables and model c-statistics ranged from 0.65 to 0.70, reported researchers.

For most models up to a readmission risk of 30%, good calibration was denoted.

According to investigators, little bias was discovered by utilizing bootstrap samples for internal validation of the models.

To determine risk of 30-day readmission, study authors developed point systems for each impairment group.

“This report represents the development of a readmission risk calculator for the inpatient rehabilitation facility setting, which could be instrumental in identifying high risk populations for readmission and targeting resources towards a diverse group of IRF impairment groups,” concluded study authors.

Reference:
Sparling TL, Yih ET, Goldstein R, et al. Development of a 30-day readmission risk calculator for the inpatient rehabilitation setting. J Am Med Dir Assoc. Published online September 20, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2022.08.005