Measures to reduce unplanned readmissions after vascular surgery

Hospital readmissions are increasingly utilized as a measure of health care quality. Unplanned readmissions in surgical patients are viewed as a marker of poor care quality, and are associated with significant expense both to the health care system and to the patient. Interventions aimed at reducing readmissions have been the focus of several prospective randomized trials addressing medical conditions like congestive heart failure, but few data exist on efforts to reduce readmissions in surgical patients. Vascular surgery patients have been found to be at a particularly high risk for readmission, and a number of groups have reported on the risk factors for readmission in these patients. However, measures to reduce unplanned readmissions after vascular surgery have not be thoroughly investigated. Here, we summarize the existing data on risk factors for readmission in vascular surgery patients, review interventional studies in medical patients aimed at reducing readmissions, and suggest interventions that may be helpful in reducing readmissions in vascular patients. Further investigative work is needed to ascertain practical approaches to reducing unplanned readmissions in vascular surgery patients and thus improve the quality of care they receive.