FRIDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- For patients who undergo colorectal surgery, 30- and 90-day readmissions are common, and cost an average of $8,885 per stay, according to a study published in the December issue of Diseases of the Colon & Rectum.
Elizabeth C. Wick, M.D., from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues investigated the rates, costs, and risk factors of hospital readmissions after colorectal surgery. Commercial health insurance records of 10,882 patients (aged 18 to 64 years) who underwent colon and/or rectal resection between 2002 and 2008 were reviewed. The main outcome measures included 30- and 90-day readmission rates, number of readmissions per patient, median cost, length of stay, and readmission risk factors.
The investigators found that the 30-day readmission rate was 11.4 percent. An additional 11.9 percent of patients were readmitted between days 31 and 90, with a total 90-day readmission rate of 23.3 percent. Two or more readmissions in the first 30 and 90 days occurred in 1.4 and 5.2 percent of patients, respectively. The mean length of stay during readmissions was eight days, with a median cost of $8,885 per stay. Development of surgical site infection (odds ratio [OR], 1.2), creation of stoma (OR, 1.2), discharge to nursing facility (OR, 1.2), index hospitalization stay greater than seven days (OR, 1.2), proctectomy (OR, 1.1), and illness severity (OR for severity of 3 or 4, 1.1 or 1.3, respectively) predicted readmission after colorectal surgery.
"Readmission after colorectal surgery occurs frequently and is associated with a cost of approximately $9,000 per readmission," the authors write.
The data set used in this study was created for a project which was supported by Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc. (a Johnson & Johnson company), Pfizer Inc., and GlaxoSmithKline.
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