Prevalence Of Unplanned Readmissions Among Patients Of Military Treatment Facilities

Understanding readmissions within the Military Health System (MHS) provides important insights to better understand and improve health outcomes for military personnel and their families. We assessed all-cause seven- and thirty-day readmission rates in military treatment facilities by treatment service for patients ages 18-64 for fiscal years 2011-18 using inpatient data from the MHS and the private sector. We compared unplanned readmission rates for the obstetric, medical, and surgical product lines. Readmission rates differed by product line. Seven-day readmission rates ranged from 1.5 percent to 3.3 percent by product line, and thirty-day rates ranged from 3.2 percent to 8.8 percent. The obstetric line had the greatest number of readmissions (391,463) but the lowest seven-day readmission rate (1.5 percent). Readmission rates were lower for the military population than for people in other insurance groups, but military readiness is disrupted by unplanned readmissions. Product-line differences in readmission rates in the MHS suggest opportunities for improvement.