• Atsushi Miyawaki, Kohei Hasegawa, Jose F Figueroa, and Yusuke Tsugawa.
• Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. amiyawaki-tky@umin.ac.jp.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2020 Sep 1; 35 (9): 2560-2568.

BackgroundAs the U.S. homeless population grows, so has the challenge of providing effective care to homeless individuals. Understanding hospitals that achieve better outcomes after hospital discharge for homeless patients has important implications for making our health system more sustainable and equitable.ObjectiveTo determine whether homeless patients experience higher rates of readmissions and emergency department (ED) visits after hospital discharge than non-homeless patients, and whether the homeless patients exhibit lower rates of readmissions and ED visits after hospital discharge when they were admitted to hospitals experienced with the treatment of the homeless patients ("homeless-serving" hospitals-defined as hospitals in the top decile of the proportion of homeless patients).DesignA population-based longitudinal study, using the data including all hospital admissions and ED visits in FL, MA, MD, and NY in 2014.ParticipantsParticipants were 3,527,383 patients (median age [IQR]: 63 [49-77] years; 1,876,466 [53%] women; 134,755 [4%] homeless patients) discharged from 474 hospitals.Main MeasuresRisk-adjusted rates of 30-day all-cause readmissions and ED visits after hospital discharge.Key ResultsAfter adjusting for potential confounders, homeless patients had higher rates of readmissions (adjusted rate, 27.3% vs. 17.5%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.93; 95% CI, 1.69-2.21; p < 0.001) and ED visits after hospital discharge (37.1% vs. 23.6%; aOR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.74-2.25; p < 0.001) compared with non-homeless patients. Homeless patients treated at homeless-serving hospitals exhibited lower rates of readmissions (23.9% vs. 33.4%; p < 0.001) and ED visits (31.4% vs. 45.4%; p < 0.001) after hospital discharge than homeless patients treated at non-homeless-serving hospitals.ConclusionsHomeless patients were more likely to be readmitted or return to ED within 30 days after hospital discharge, especially when they were treated at hospitals that treat a small proportion of homeless patients. These findings suggest that homeless patients may receive better discharge planning and care coordination when treated at hospitals experienced with caring for homeless people.

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