Characteristics of General Neurology Readmissions

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine clinical variables and their relationships to general neurology readmissions. Background: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reduces payments to hospitals with excessive readmissions associated with certain diseases and procedures. Neurologic conditions may be targeted in the future. There is a paucity of literature regarding readmission rates for general neurologic disorders. Design/Methods: Patients discharged from the general neurology service at a tertiary care teaching hospital from January to December 2015 were identified. Patients discharged from neuro-intensive care, stroke and epilepsy services were excluded. Age, gender, length of stay (LOS), diagnosis, and discharge disposition were compared by t-test or odds ratio for admissions which resulted in 30-day readmissions as defined by CMS (A r ) and those which did not (A 0 ). Readmissions were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results: The unplanned readmission rate was 13.7%. While the average age of A r was older (62.32 ± 16.63 years vs 56.35 ± 20.44 years, p=0.05), length of stay, gender, neurologic diagnoses did not differ among the groups. Patients were more likely to be readmitted if they were discharged to acute rehabilitation (OR=2.24, 95 CI 1.06–4.69, p=0.03). Patients were more likely to be readmitted if they initially had a urinary tract infection on index admission (OR 5.04, CI 1.99–12.77, p Conclusions: Although CMS has strict criteria for defining readmissions, our data suggests that it may not be applicable to general neurology patients. Further classification and disease-based criteria may need to be developed. Disclosure: Dr. Kim has nothing to disclose. Dr Kothare has nothing to disclose. Dr. Weinberg has nothing to disclose.