Avoidable hospital readmissions
Reducing avoidable hospital readmissions supports better health outcomes, improves patient safety and leads to greater efficiency in the health system.
What are avoidable hospital readmissions?
A hospital readmission is when a patient has been discharged from hospital and is admitted again within a certain time interval.
They can generally be considered in two broad categories:
- Readmissions that relate to routine care, for example those that relate to necessary treatments such as chemotherapy or dialysis and are required to ensure safe clinical care.
- Readmissions that are potentially avoidable.
An avoidable hospital readmission occurs when a patient has been discharged from hospital (index admission) and has a subsequent unplanned admission that is related to the index admission and was potentially preventable.
Avoidable readmissions can be burdensome on the health system and show a need for safety and quality improvements.
How we are supporting hospitals to monitor avoidable readmissions
We have a list of conditions considered avoidable hospital readmissions if they occur within the condition-specific time interval.
The specifications include complication groups, intervals, and codes and is intended to be used as part of a suite of indicators to monitor safety and quality of care. A summary of the list is provided below.
Download the avoidable hospital readmissions specifications
Our core hospital-based outcome indicators toolkit also features four unplanned readmission indicators.
Summary list of avoidable hospital readmission conditions
| Readmission complication | Readmission diagnosis | Interval (days) |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure injury | Stage III ulcer | 14 |
| Stage IV ulcer | 7 | |
| Unspecified decubitus and pressure area | 14 | |
| Unstageable pressure injury | 14 | |
| Suspected deep tissue injury, depth unknown | 14 | |
| Infections | Urinary tract infection | 7 |
| Surgical site infection | 30 | |
| Pneumonia | 7 | |
| Blood stream infection | 2 | |
| Central line and peripheral line associated blood stream infection | 2 | |
| Multi-resistant organism | 2 | |
| Infection associated with devices, implants and grafts | 90 | |
| Infection associated with devices, implants and grafts in genital tract or urinary system | 30 | |
| Infection associated with peritoneal dialysis catheter | 2 | |
| Gastrointestinal infections | 28 | |
| Other high impact infections | 2 | |
| Surgical complications | Postoperative haemorrhage/haematoma | 28 |
| Surgical wound dehiscence | 28 | |
| Anastomotic leak | 28 | |
| Cardiac vascular graft failure | 28 | |
| Pain following surgery | 14 | |
| Other surgical complications | 28 | |
| Respiratory complications | Respiratory failure including acute respiratory distress syndromes | 21 |
| Aspiration pneumonia | 14 | |
| Pulmonary oedema | 30 | |
| Movement disorders due to psychotropic medications | 14 | |
| Serious alteration to conscious state due to psychotropic medication | 14 | |
| Venous thromboembolism | Venous thromboembolism | 90 |
| Renal failure | Renal failure | 21 |
| Gastrointestinal bleeding | Gastrointestinal bleeding | 2 |
| Medication complications | Drug-related respiratory complications/depression | 2 |
| Hypoglycaemia | 4 | |
| Delirium | Delirium | 10 |
| Cardiac complications | Heart failure | 30 |
| Ventricular arrhythmias and cardiac arrest | 30 | |
| Atrial tachycardia | 14 | |
| Acute coronary syndrome including unstable angina, STEMI and NSTEMI | 30 | |
| Other | Constipation | 14 |
| Nausea and vomiting | 7 |