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About one in five patients who have surgery to remove part or all of the esophagus return to the hospital for complications within 30 days, and when they do their chance of death increases fivefold, compared with those who don’t return to the hospital, investigators at the University of Virginia Health System reported in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (2015;150:1254-60).
“Early recognition of life-threatening readmission diagnoses is essential in order to provide optimal care,” said lead author Dr. Yinin Hu and colleagues. Esophageal cancer is the fastest-growing cancer in the United States, so the study investigators set out to closely examine the reasons for readmissions and death after surgery.
The study identified 1,688 patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database aged 66 or older who had surgery for esophageal cancer from 2000 to 2009. The overall 30-day mortality was 6.9%, and the 90-day mortality was 13.9%.
After excluding in-hospital deaths, the investigators’ readmission analysis included 1,543 patients. In this group, overall 90-day mortality following discharge was 6.4%, and the readmission rate within 30 days of discharge was 20.7%
The 90-day mortality for patients who were readmitted was more than four times that for those who were not readmitted, 16.3% vs. 3.8%; their in-hospital mortality was 8.8%. About one-third of readmissions were to facilities different from where patients had the index esophagectomy, and those patients were about seven times more likely to be transferred after readmission than patients admitted to the same facility, 15% vs. 1.9%. Risk-adjusted mortality did not vary significantly across providers.
The most frequent reasons for readmission were pneumonia (11.8%), malnutrition/dehydration (8.1%), pleural effusion (97.5%), and aspiration pneumonitis (6.8%). “Notably, more than one in five patients readmitted with a pulmonary diagnosis subsequently died within 90 days of the operation,” Dr. Hu and coauthors said, indicating that readmissions for pulmonary complications carried the worst prognosis.
This is the first study to demonstrate the gravity of pulmonary readmissions within 30 days of discharge, Dr. Hu and coauthors said. “Patients with nonspecific dyspneic symptoms or small pleural effusions should receive aggressive care upon readmission, as more than 20% will not survive the next few months,” Dr. Hu and coauthors said. “These results reinforce the notion that a fairly benign readmitting diagnosis is often an indicator of a much more severe root process.”
Among nonpulmonary reasons for readmission, dehydration and malnutrition carried the highest risk for death. “While there are many interventions that can promote postoperative nutrition, a readmission due to poor dietary tolerance often indicates other complications such as infection, stenosis, or anastomotic leak,” Dr. Hu and coauthors said. They suggested a thorough root-cause analysis should be part of every readmission.
The study also analyzed the hospital length of stay (LOS) as a predictor for readmission. The median LOS was 13 days, but the most common LOS was 9 days. “In general, the probability of readmission increases with increasing postoperative LOS,” Dr. Hu and colleagues said.
The authors reported no disclosures. Dr. Yinin Hu received funding from the National Institutes of Health and coauthor Dr. Benjamin Kozower received funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The findings of this study may indicate that patients who stay in the hospital longer have underlying issues that did not surface during their admission for the operation, Dr. Anthony W. Kim of Yale University, New Haven, Conn., said in his invited commentary (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2015;150:1030-1). “Therefore, rather than employing a prevention of a failure-to-rescue strategy during a readmission, it may be worthwhile to enact a prevention-of-readmission strategy triggered by a longer than typical [length of stay],” Dr. Kim said. He suggested the root-cause analysis should begin in the hospital on the day after the patient exceeds the median length of stay.
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Dr. Anthony W. Kim |
But citing the law of unintended consequences, Dr. Kim warns against using readmission as a quality metric as well a instrument to dictate reimbursement. “The law of unintended consequences dictates that when a readmission is taken out of context, using this measure raises the potential conflict of interest between doing what is right for the patient and achieving a specific milestone that may not be in the best interest of an individual patient,” he said. “Discharging a patient early perhaps to the exclusion of adequately addressing inpatient issues for the purposes of achieving a target [length of stay] is perhaps the prime example of these conflicting interests.”
Because of the difficult recovery course after esophagectomy, some readmissions are “necessary, beneficial and, unequivocally, the right decision,” Dr. Kim said. “Ironically, one of the unintended consequences of this article may be that it exposes the fact that until a better system of recording and scrutinizing readmissions exists, governing organizations should exercise considerable caution when assessing a surgeon, hospital, or system and their readmissions,” he said.
To paraphrase the sociologist Robert K. Merton, who devised the law of unintended consequences, the existing state of knowledge limits one’s ability to anticipate the consequences of action. The authors of this study “have added immensely to a body of knowledge that is still growing and deserves ongoing study if policy is to be based upon it,” Dr. Kim said.
Dr. Kim had no disclosures.
The findings of this study may indicate that patients who stay in the hospital longer have underlying issues that did not surface during their admission for the operation, Dr. Anthony W. Kim of Yale University, New Haven, Conn., said in his invited commentary (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2015;150:1030-1). “Therefore, rather than employing a prevention of a failure-to-rescue strategy during a readmission, it may be worthwhile to enact a prevention-of-readmission strategy triggered by a longer than typical [length of stay],” Dr. Kim said. He suggested the root-cause analysis should begin in the hospital on the day after the patient exceeds the median length of stay.
|
Dr. Anthony W. Kim |
But citing the law of unintended consequences, Dr. Kim warns against using readmission as a quality metric as well a instrument to dictate reimbursement. “The law of unintended consequences dictates that when a readmission is taken out of context, using this measure raises the potential conflict of interest between doing what is right for the patient and achieving a specific milestone that may not be in the best interest of an individual patient,” he said. “Discharging a patient early perhaps to the exclusion of adequately addressing inpatient issues for the purposes of achieving a target [length of stay] is perhaps the prime example of these conflicting interests.”
Because of the difficult recovery course after esophagectomy, some readmissions are “necessary, beneficial and, unequivocally, the right decision,” Dr. Kim said. “Ironically, one of the unintended consequences of this article may be that it exposes the fact that until a better system of recording and scrutinizing readmissions exists, governing organizations should exercise considerable caution when assessing a surgeon, hospital, or system and their readmissions,” he said.
To paraphrase the sociologist Robert K. Merton, who devised the law of unintended consequences, the existing state of knowledge limits one’s ability to anticipate the consequences of action. The authors of this study “have added immensely to a body of knowledge that is still growing and deserves ongoing study if policy is to be based upon it,” Dr. Kim said.
Dr. Kim had no disclosures.
The findings of this study may indicate that patients who stay in the hospital longer have underlying issues that did not surface during their admission for the operation, Dr. Anthony W. Kim of Yale University, New Haven, Conn., said in his invited commentary (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2015;150:1030-1). “Therefore, rather than employing a prevention of a failure-to-rescue strategy during a readmission, it may be worthwhile to enact a prevention-of-readmission strategy triggered by a longer than typical [length of stay],” Dr. Kim said. He suggested the root-cause analysis should begin in the hospital on the day after the patient exceeds the median length of stay.
|
Dr. Anthony W. Kim |
But citing the law of unintended consequences, Dr. Kim warns against using readmission as a quality metric as well a instrument to dictate reimbursement. “The law of unintended consequences dictates that when a readmission is taken out of context, using this measure raises the potential conflict of interest between doing what is right for the patient and achieving a specific milestone that may not be in the best interest of an individual patient,” he said. “Discharging a patient early perhaps to the exclusion of adequately addressing inpatient issues for the purposes of achieving a target [length of stay] is perhaps the prime example of these conflicting interests.”
Because of the difficult recovery course after esophagectomy, some readmissions are “necessary, beneficial and, unequivocally, the right decision,” Dr. Kim said. “Ironically, one of the unintended consequences of this article may be that it exposes the fact that until a better system of recording and scrutinizing readmissions exists, governing organizations should exercise considerable caution when assessing a surgeon, hospital, or system and their readmissions,” he said.
To paraphrase the sociologist Robert K. Merton, who devised the law of unintended consequences, the existing state of knowledge limits one’s ability to anticipate the consequences of action. The authors of this study “have added immensely to a body of knowledge that is still growing and deserves ongoing study if policy is to be based upon it,” Dr. Kim said.
Dr. Kim had no disclosures.
About one in five patients who have surgery to remove part or all of the esophagus return to the hospital for complications within 30 days, and when they do their chance of death increases fivefold, compared with those who don’t return to the hospital, investigators at the University of Virginia Health System reported in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (2015;150:1254-60).
“Early recognition of life-threatening readmission diagnoses is essential in order to provide optimal care,” said lead author Dr. Yinin Hu and colleagues. Esophageal cancer is the fastest-growing cancer in the United States, so the study investigators set out to closely examine the reasons for readmissions and death after surgery.
The study identified 1,688 patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database aged 66 or older who had surgery for esophageal cancer from 2000 to 2009. The overall 30-day mortality was 6.9%, and the 90-day mortality was 13.9%.
After excluding in-hospital deaths, the investigators’ readmission analysis included 1,543 patients. In this group, overall 90-day mortality following discharge was 6.4%, and the readmission rate within 30 days of discharge was 20.7%
The 90-day mortality for patients who were readmitted was more than four times that for those who were not readmitted, 16.3% vs. 3.8%; their in-hospital mortality was 8.8%. About one-third of readmissions were to facilities different from where patients had the index esophagectomy, and those patients were about seven times more likely to be transferred after readmission than patients admitted to the same facility, 15% vs. 1.9%. Risk-adjusted mortality did not vary significantly across providers.
The most frequent reasons for readmission were pneumonia (11.8%), malnutrition/dehydration (8.1%), pleural effusion (97.5%), and aspiration pneumonitis (6.8%). “Notably, more than one in five patients readmitted with a pulmonary diagnosis subsequently died within 90 days of the operation,” Dr. Hu and coauthors said, indicating that readmissions for pulmonary complications carried the worst prognosis.
This is the first study to demonstrate the gravity of pulmonary readmissions within 30 days of discharge, Dr. Hu and coauthors said. “Patients with nonspecific dyspneic symptoms or small pleural effusions should receive aggressive care upon readmission, as more than 20% will not survive the next few months,” Dr. Hu and coauthors said. “These results reinforce the notion that a fairly benign readmitting diagnosis is often an indicator of a much more severe root process.”
Among nonpulmonary reasons for readmission, dehydration and malnutrition carried the highest risk for death. “While there are many interventions that can promote postoperative nutrition, a readmission due to poor dietary tolerance often indicates other complications such as infection, stenosis, or anastomotic leak,” Dr. Hu and coauthors said. They suggested a thorough root-cause analysis should be part of every readmission.
The study also analyzed the hospital length of stay (LOS) as a predictor for readmission. The median LOS was 13 days, but the most common LOS was 9 days. “In general, the probability of readmission increases with increasing postoperative LOS,” Dr. Hu and colleagues said.
The authors reported no disclosures. Dr. Yinin Hu received funding from the National Institutes of Health and coauthor Dr. Benjamin Kozower received funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
About one in five patients who have surgery to remove part or all of the esophagus return to the hospital for complications within 30 days, and when they do their chance of death increases fivefold, compared with those who don’t return to the hospital, investigators at the University of Virginia Health System reported in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (2015;150:1254-60).
“Early recognition of life-threatening readmission diagnoses is essential in order to provide optimal care,” said lead author Dr. Yinin Hu and colleagues. Esophageal cancer is the fastest-growing cancer in the United States, so the study investigators set out to closely examine the reasons for readmissions and death after surgery.
The study identified 1,688 patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database aged 66 or older who had surgery for esophageal cancer from 2000 to 2009. The overall 30-day mortality was 6.9%, and the 90-day mortality was 13.9%.
After excluding in-hospital deaths, the investigators’ readmission analysis included 1,543 patients. In this group, overall 90-day mortality following discharge was 6.4%, and the readmission rate within 30 days of discharge was 20.7%
The 90-day mortality for patients who were readmitted was more than four times that for those who were not readmitted, 16.3% vs. 3.8%; their in-hospital mortality was 8.8%. About one-third of readmissions were to facilities different from where patients had the index esophagectomy, and those patients were about seven times more likely to be transferred after readmission than patients admitted to the same facility, 15% vs. 1.9%. Risk-adjusted mortality did not vary significantly across providers.
The most frequent reasons for readmission were pneumonia (11.8%), malnutrition/dehydration (8.1%), pleural effusion (97.5%), and aspiration pneumonitis (6.8%). “Notably, more than one in five patients readmitted with a pulmonary diagnosis subsequently died within 90 days of the operation,” Dr. Hu and coauthors said, indicating that readmissions for pulmonary complications carried the worst prognosis.
This is the first study to demonstrate the gravity of pulmonary readmissions within 30 days of discharge, Dr. Hu and coauthors said. “Patients with nonspecific dyspneic symptoms or small pleural effusions should receive aggressive care upon readmission, as more than 20% will not survive the next few months,” Dr. Hu and coauthors said. “These results reinforce the notion that a fairly benign readmitting diagnosis is often an indicator of a much more severe root process.”
Among nonpulmonary reasons for readmission, dehydration and malnutrition carried the highest risk for death. “While there are many interventions that can promote postoperative nutrition, a readmission due to poor dietary tolerance often indicates other complications such as infection, stenosis, or anastomotic leak,” Dr. Hu and coauthors said. They suggested a thorough root-cause analysis should be part of every readmission.
The study also analyzed the hospital length of stay (LOS) as a predictor for readmission. The median LOS was 13 days, but the most common LOS was 9 days. “In general, the probability of readmission increases with increasing postoperative LOS,” Dr. Hu and colleagues said.
The authors reported no disclosures. Dr. Yinin Hu received funding from the National Institutes of Health and coauthor Dr. Benjamin Kozower received funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Key clinical point: Patients readmitted after esophagectomy are at a greater than fourfold higher risk of death than patients who do not need readmission.
Major finding: The 90-day mortality for patients who were readmitted was greater than four times that for those who were not readmitted, 16.3% vs. 3.8%.
Data source: Analysis of 1,688 patients in the SEER-Medicare database aged 66 or older who had surgery for esophageal cancer from 2000 to 2009.
Disclosures: The authors had no disclosures. Lead author Dr. Yinin Hu received funding from the National Institutes of Health and coauthor Dr. Benjamin Kozower received funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
