Washington (ChatterShmatter) – A new study has found that discharged Medicare patients are often back in the hospital within 30 days of initially being released.
Researchers from the University of Colorado at Denver, as well as Northwestern University in Chicago focused on data from 2003 and 2004, looking at nearly 12 million Medicare beneficiaries.
What they found was startling, as the rehospitalization of these patients cost over $17 billion in 2004 alone.
They discovered that 20% of the time, Medicare patients who were discharged from the hospital, were back within 30 days.
This is due to a lack of a follow-up appointment with a physician, among other things.
Building further, 34% were rehospitalized within 90 days, while 70% were back within 12 months.
The study has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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