St. Cloud Hospital had the Lowest Average LOS in the State for a 30-Day Episode of Care with Unplanned Readmission for Diabetes at 3.23 Days
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By: Saparja Nag Mar. 15, 2018
A Dexur analysis of hospitals in Minnesota that treated Medicare inpatients for diabetes showed that the lowest average LOS for a 30-day episode of care with unplanned readmissions was found at St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud at just 3.23 days between January 2013 and December 2016. This was 0.30 days lower than the 2nd ranked United Hospital of Saint Paul, which averaged a 30-day episode of care LOS of 3.53 days. HealthEast St. John's Hospital was just behind at 3.55 days to rank 3rd in the state for this metric. In 4th was Hennepin County Medical Center averaging 3.64 days for a 30-day episode of care including unplanned readmissions. Mercy Hospital - Unity Campus ranked 5th at 3.72 days.
In order to be included in this analysis, hospitals were required to have at least 50 discharges at the DRG level after exclusion of patients who were discharged against medical advice (AMA), transferred or expired while in the hospital. The DRG used in this particular analysis was DRG-638: Diabetes with Complication or Comorbidity, one of three DRGs included within the diabetes condition. The other two DRGs were DRG-637: Diabetes with Major Complication or Comorbidity and DRG-639: Diabetes without Complication or Comorbidity/Major Complication or Comorbidity. 11 Minnesota hospitals met these criteria. Unplanned readmissions in this context refers to patients that were readmitted via the emergency department within 30 days of their index hospitalization. The top five hospitals with lowest average LOS for 30-day episode of care with unplanned readmissions were well below the national average LOS and under state average LOS as well.
Another related metric is the average LOS for a 30-day episode of care including all readmissions (unplanned and planned) for DRG-638. Only one hospital, HealthEast St. John's Hospital, averaged a lower LOS with all readmissions than St. Cloud Hospital. HealthEast St. John's Hospital averaged 3.66 days for DRG-638 patients 30-day episode of care. In fact, the same five hospitals were also among the top five for 30-day episode of care average LOS with all readmissions. St. Cloud Hospital and Mercy Hospital - Unity Campus tied for 2nd at 3.72 days. The fact that Mercy Hospital - Unity Campus had the same LOS for a 30-day episode of care including all readmissions and just unplanned readmissions suggests that they are able to treat all readmissions similarly regardless of why the patient was admitted again, discharging them in the same amount of time. It is also possible that all readmissions at Mercy Hospital - Unity Campus were unplanned, therefore making both metrics the same.
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