Hospital Readmission as an Indicator of Poor Quality

Running Head: HOSPITAL READMISSION
Hospital Readmission
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HOSPITAL READMISSION
2
Hospital Readmission
Hospital readmission as an indicator of poor quality
Hospital readmission is the situation in which an individual who had been discharged by
the healthcare staff is admitted again in the same hospital for a specified period of time. The rates
of hospital readmission are being applied to measure the outcome of healthcare research as well
as the benchmark for quality services for healthcare systems. Most of the healthcare centers have
been punished under the patient protection and affordable act of 2010 if their readmission rates
are higher than the stipulated rates. Thus, most healthcare organizations have introduced
programs to reduce the rates of readmission and to improve the quality of services. Hospital
readmission has proved problematic not only for the healthcare providers, patients, players,
policymakers, but also the family of the patients. This is because hospital readmissions are not
only expensive (Birmingham & Oglesby, 2018), but they are also an indication of inefficiency
and poor quality in healthcare centers (Khouri Jr et al. 2017). It should be noted that Medicare
program pays for almost all the readmission expect if an individual is readmitted within less than
24 hours after the first discharge for the same medical condition in which he or she had been
hospitalized.
My experience with readmission has been worst since I was the one who got the first-
hand experience. I was diagnosed initially with acute malaria. After two weeks I was readmitted
again for the same reason. After an inquiry from the hospital management as to why was being
readmitted for a similar condition, I was informed that the healthcare provider who handled my
case did not effectively treat for the disease. This experience was terrifying since I lost
confidence with the providers as I was not sure they would do the same mistake.