Preventability of Hospital Readmissions From Skilled Nursing Facilities: A Consumer Perspective

A structured interview was conducted with Medicare patients readmitted to a private, tertiary teaching hospital from skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) to assess their perspectives of readmission preventability and their role in the readmission.

Data were collected at Vanderbilt University Medical Center using a 6-item interview administered at the bedside to Medicare beneficiaries with unplanned hospital readmissions from 23 SNFs within 60 days of a previous hospital discharge. Mixed analytical methods were applied, including a content analysis that evaluated factors contributing to hospital readmission as perceived by consumers.

Among 208 attempted interviews, 156 were completed, of which 53 (34%) respondents rated their readmission as preventable. 28.3% of the 53 consumers attributed the readmission to hospital factors, 52.8% attributed it to the SNF, and 18.9% believed both sites could have prevented the readmission. The primary driver of the readmission was a family member/caregiver in 31 cases and the patient in 24 of the 156 cases, amounting to 55 (35.3%) consumer-driven readmissions. Contributing factors included: premature hospital discharge (16.3%); poor discharge planning (16.3%); a clinical issue not resolved in the hospital (14.3%); inadequate treatment at the SNF (69.4%); improper medication management at the SNF (20.4%); and poor decision-making regarding the transfer (14.3%).

Interviewing readmitted patients provides information relevant to reducing readmissions that may otherwise be omitted from hospital and SNF records. Consumers identified quality issues at both the hospital and SNF and perceived themselves as initiating a significant number of readmissions.