Percentage of admitted patients who return to the hospital within seven days of discharge.

Each month, use your financial and/or admission information systems to identify patients who were discharged that month and also had a second admission within seven days of the initial discharge.

Percentage of readmitted patients is an important balancing measure to indicate if changes to patient flow through the system are negatively affecting care. While some readmissions are part of the planned care and are desirable, others may be indications of a quality issue related to shortened length of stay and premature discharge.