Hospital readmission of skilled nursing facility residents: a systematic review

Hospital readmission of patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) is common and costly with increasing public attention over the past decade, particularly in light of the new health care environment surrounding the advent of the Affordable Care Act. The purpose of the current systematic review is to critically examine prevalence, predictors, and costs of hospital readmission of SNF residents found in the medical literature. Individual resident, facility, and intervention factors predicting hospital readmission of SNF residents were studied. Despite the heterogeneity of the reviewed articles' data sources and study designs, the existing literature asserts that hospital readmission of SNF residents is associated with individual resident and facility characteristics. Implementation of promising intervention programs can promote quality of care and reduce hospital readmission of SNF residents.