The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma
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Accountable care puts pressure on hospitals to manage care episodes. Initial length of stay (ILOS) and readmission risk are important elements of a care episode and measures of care quality. Understanding the association between these two measures can guide hospital efforts in managing care episodes. This study was designed to explore the association between ILOS and readmission risk in a cohort of pediatric asthma patients. ⋯ Attempts to prolong ILOS would dramatically increase costs with little impact on readmissions. For example, increasing one-day visits to two-day visits would increase hospital patient days 38% (1870 d) in this cohort while decreasing total readmissions by 3.8% [95% CI: 3.6-4.0%]. Understanding the mechanisms that impact readmissions is essential in evaluating cost-effective approaches to improving patient outcomes and lowering the cost of care.