Medicare Drug and Alcohol Abuse Patients at High Point Health Spend Only 2.81 Days in the Hospital within 30 Days, the Lowest Rate in Indiana
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By: Jeffrey Maser Mar. 09, 2018
A Dexur analysis of alcohol and drug abuse discharges between 2013-2016 shows that Medicare inpatients at High Point Health (formerly known as Dearborn County Hospital) in Lawrenceburg averaged 2.81 days in the hospital for a 30-day episode of care with unplanned readmissions, the lowest rate in Indiana. High Point Health was the only hospital in the state with a 30-day episode of care average length of stay (LOS) below 3 days. Baptist Health Floyd, located in New Albany, ranked 2nd at 3.03 days and Elkhart General Hospital in Elkhart ranked 3rd at 3.18 days. Medicare enrollees throughout the U.S. accounted for an average LOS of 6.4 days for a 30-day episode of care, substantially higher than the 5.73 day average for Medicare enrollees from Indiana.
Average LOS for a 30-day episode of care with unplanned readmissions accounts for hospital length of stay for the index hospital discharge plus any days spent in the hospital over the first 30 days post-discharge due to unplanned readmissions. An unplanned readmission is defined as a readmission in which the patient was admitted through the emergency department. This value also takes complications into account, since complications generally lead to more readmissions. However, it must be noted that patients are not necessarily readmitted to the index hospital for subsequent stays. Indiana hospitals were included in the rankings if they accounted for at least 30 DRG-897 (Alcohol, Drug Abuse or Dependence Without Rehabilitation Therapy Without Major Complication or Comorbidity) discharges between January 2013 - December 2016. Discharges where the patient expired, was transferred, or was discharged against medical advice were not included in the totals.
Along with ranking 1st in the state for lowest average length of stay for a 30-day episode of care for DRG-897, High Point Health also ranked 3rd for the lowest average LOS for the index hospital stay at 2.51 days. Baptist Health Floyd ranked 1st for this measure at 2.06 days and Terra Haute Regional Hospital in Terra Haute ranked 2nd at 2.34 days. Although these two hospitals ranked higher than High Point Health for this metric, Baptist Health Floyd ranked 2nd for 30-day episode of care average LOS and Terre Haute Regional ranked 16th in part due to their readmission rates; in the 30 days following a DRG-897 discharge, Baptist Health Floyd had a readmission rate (all readmissions, both planned and unplanned) of 45.45%, which was the highest in the state, and Terre Haute Regional reported a 37.5% rate, the 3rd highest of the 36 Indiana hospitals with at least 11 readmissions during the four year period. Nationally, the readmission rate for DRG-897 discharges within 30-days was 28.09%, over 6% higher than the 22.01% rate for Medicare enrollees from Indiana.
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- Hospital Location, State Market Share of Total Inpatient Discharges in 2016, DRG-897 Average LOS for a 30-Day Episode of Care between 2013-2016 and DRG-897 Average LOS for Index Hospital Stay for the 10 Indiana Hospitals with the Lowest DRG-897 Average LOS for a 30-Day Episode of Care between 2013-2016
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