30-day readmission rate and its causes in general surgical patients.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To find out the 30-day readmission rate for different surgical procedures and determine the causes for readmissions.
STUDY DESIGN:
An audit report.
PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY:
Department of Surgery, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, in the calendar year 2014.
METHODOLOGY:
Records were retrospectively reviewed for 30-day readmission rate and their cause in general surgical patients who underwent a general surgical procedure at The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, in the year 2014.
RESULTS:
Out of 217 (6.4%) readmissions in 3,387 patients, more than 50% unplanned readmissions were avoidable. The highest readmission rate was after placement of feeding tubes (28.5%).
CONCLUSION:
More than half of the readmissions could have been prevented by proper patient/attendant education, good communication and provision of nursing services to these patients beyond the hospital.
This paper has been withdrawn.