Cost of hospital readmissions ‘disproportionally high’: study

A University of Queensland study discovered almost 25% of heart failure patients experienced unplanned readmissions within a month following discharge. The study evaluated data from over 165,000 hospitalisations from 2013 to 2017, finding the initial heart failure hospitalisation cost $1.88bn, with an additional $604m spent on unplanned readmissions. The costs primarily arose from potentially preventable hospital-acquired complications and recurrent heart failure. Co-author Isuru Ranasinghe said improving care quality and implementing strategies to reduce readmissions was critical.