Journal of hospital medicine : an official publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine
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Hospital readmission rates are used for quality and pay-for-performance initiatives. To identify readmissions from administrative data, two commonly employed methods are focusing either on unplanned readmissions (used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS) or potentially avoidable readmissions (used by commercial vendors such as SQLape or 3 M). However, it is not known which of these methods has higher criterion validity and can more accurately identify actually avoidable readmissions. ⋯ Thus, the CMS method has both higher criterion validity and greater sensitivity for identifying actually avoidable readmissions, compared with the SQLape method. Consequently, the CMS method should primarily be used for quality initiatives.
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Characterizing electronic messaging use among hospitalists and its association with patient volumes.
Secure electronic messaging is increasingly being utilized for communications in healthcare settings. While it likely increases efficiency, it has also been associated with interruptions, high message volumes, and risk of errors due to multitasking. ⋯ Secure messaging volumes may be higher than previously reported, which may affect hospitalist workload and workflow and have unintended effects on interruptions, multitasking, and medical errors. Additional work should be done to better understand local messaging patterns and opportunities to optimize volume of work and distractions.
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Alcohol withdrawal is a common reason for admission to acute care hospitals. Prescription of medications for alcohol-use disorder (AUD) and close outpatient follow-up are commonly recommended, but few studies report their effects on postdischarge outcomes. ⋯ Readmission and return to heavy drinking are common for patients discharged for alcohol withdrawal. Medications for AUD were not associated with improved outcomes. The only intervention at the time of discharge that improved outcomes was discharge to residential treatment program, which was associated with decreased readmission and improved abstinence.