Faculty Bibliography

Background: Avoidable hospital readmissions may be reflective of poor quality of inpatient healthcare and may be used as a metric to guide reimbursement rates to hospitals. Most existing risk prediction models rely on administrative databases and have poor predictive ability. Physician chart reviews are necessary to identify both the cause and preventability of a readmission. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of 135 patients with an unplanned (Table presented) readmission to Bellevue Hospital within 7 days of discharge from the medicine service during a six month period. Each chart was reviewed independently by two experienced attending physicians. Using an algorithm developed via a pilot study, each readmission was classified into one of five categories: (1) not medically necessary (medical necessity), (2) following a discharge against medical advice (AMA), (3) related to a deficiency in the discharge process, (4) related to poor patient adherence (patient behavior) to the discharge plan, or (5) related to a condition that was difficult to predict. The latter three categories were further subcategorized to allow for more detailed analysis. Discrepancies in classification were resolved by consensus of the four authors. Baseline demographic information was obtained for the same time frame for patients who were not readmitted within 7 days. Results: During the study period there were 265 patients who were readmitted within seven days of discharge and 3,411 patients who were not. The gender ratio was not significantly different between groups (65% male in the readmitted group versus 62% male in the not readmitted group, P = 0.47). Age was significantly lower in the readmitted group (mean = 52.9 years) as compared to the not readmitted group (56.3; P = 0.001). Median length of stay (LOS) for the initial hospitalization was longer in the readmitted group (5 days vs 3 days; P = 0.0002). For the 135 readmitted cases, there was good agreement between reviewers (84%; j 0.776). The most common category of readmission was "unpredictable" (37.8%), followed by patient behavior (22.2%), discharge process (21.5%), medical necessity (9.6%), and AMA (8.9%). Conclusions: Our novel algorithm efficiently and reproducibly classified 7-day readmissions into discreet categories. Compared to all other patients, those who were readmitted within 7 days were more likely to be younger and have a longer initial LOS. We found 62% of readmissions were attributable to physician or patient behaviors, or system failures. This categorization algorithm can be used to guide creation of risk prediction models and allows for detailed analysis of individual groups that will assist development of individualized interventions to reduce rates of avoidable readmissions

INTRODUCTION: Rapid response teams (RRTs) have been shown to reduce cardiopulmonary arrests outside the intensive care unit (ICU). Yet the utility of RRTs remains in question, as most large studies have failed to demonstrate a significant reduction in hospital-wide mortality after RRT implementation. METHODS: A cohort design with historical controls was used to determine the effect on hospital-wide mortality of an RRT in which clinical judgment, in addition to vital-signs criteria, was widely promoted as a key trigger for activation. All nonprisoner patients admitted to a tertiary referral public teaching hospital from 2003 through 2008 were included. In total, 77, 021 admissions before RRT implementation (2003 through 2005) and 79, 013 admissions after RRT implementation (2006 through 2008) were evaluated. The a priori primary outcome was unadjusted hospital-wide mortality. A Poisson regression model was then used to adjust for hospital-wide mortality trends over time. Secondary outcomes defined a priori were unadjusted out-of-ICU mortality and out-of-ICU cardiopulmonary-arrest codes. RESULTS: In total, 855 inpatient RRTs (10.8 per 1, 000 hospital-wide discharges) were activated during the 3-year postintervention period. Forty-seven percent of RRTs were activated for reasons of clinical judgment. Hospital-wide mortality decreased from 15.50 to 13.74 deaths per 1, 000 discharges after RRT implementation (relative risk, 0.887; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.817 to 0.963; P = 0.004). After adjusting for inpatient mortality trends over time, the reduction in hospital-wide mortality remained statistically significant (relative risk, 0.825; 95% CI, 0.694 to 0.981; P = 0.029). Out-of-ICU mortality decreased from 7.08 to 4.61 deaths per 1, 000 discharges (relative risk, 0.651; 95% CI, 0.570 to 0.743; P < 0.001). Out-of-ICU cardiopulmonary-arrest codes decreased from 3.28 to 1.62 codes per 1, 000 discharges (relative risk, 0.493; 95% CI, 0.399 to 0.610; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of an RRT in which clinical judgment, in addition to vital-signs criteria, was widely cited as a rationale for activation, was associated with a significant reduction in hospital-wide mortality, out-of-ICU mortality, and out-of-ICU cardiopulmonary-arrest codes. The frequent use of clinical judgment as a criterion for RRT activation was associated with high RRT utilization.

BACKGROUND: Most examples of successful medication reconciliation (MR) programs have reported on paper-based systems, the most common of which is a standardized MR form that often serves as a medication order form. An interdisciplinary process was undertaken by Bellevue Hospital, New York City, to develop a full, online MR program. PHASE 1. MOVING BEYOND PAPER: In 2005 Bellevue piloted a paper-based MR process. However, this effort was unsuccessful, so an online MR application that would be more accessible and easier to audit was initiated. The longitudinal outpatient medication list--the definitive, electronic medication list for patients in our system--formed the basis of the MR project. The list included every prescription written in the electronic health record (EHR). Historical medication could also be entered into the list, representing a useful function in the outpatient setting for patients who transfer their care to Bellevue and are already on chronic medications. In a two-month pilot in Summer 2006, compliance was achieved for only 20% of patients. PHASE 2. AUDITING AND MANDATORY FUNCTIONALITY: In April 2007, MR was made a mandatory part of the admission process; a blocking function in the EHR prevented medication orders if the admission MR had not been completed. Compliance rates subsequently increased to 90% throughout the hospital. To 'close the loop' in the reconciliation process, in November 2007, a discharge reconciliation was made a mandatory part of the discharge process, resulting in 95% compliance. LESSONS LEARNED: Successful implementation of admission and discharge MR suggested several lessons, including (1) mandatory functionality leads to adaptation and integration of MR into housestaff work flows and (2) an electronic MR is preferable to a paper-based process in organizations with an EHR and computerized physician order entry