Changing risks over time following hospitalization

Readmissions and death after hospitalization are common. However, there no data on how the risk for these adverse events changes over time following hospitalization. In this study, the authors explored the absolute risk and changes in risk over time for readmission and mortality in the year following hospitalization for myocardial infarction (MI), pneumonia or heart failure (HF) among more than 3 million Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. The risk of readmission was highest in the first few days following discharge for all three conditions (Figure 1). The risk of readmission declined by 50% by day 13 after discharge following hospitalization for MI and day 38 after discharge following hospitalization for HF. However, the risk of hospitalization …