Defining and evaluating an operational definition of potentially preventable hospital readmission

Readmissions to hospital are a globally recognised problem. Currently no standardized validated definition for potentially preventable hospital readmissions exists. Instead,various forms of unplanned hospital readmission rates are used as indicators of the quality of care received in hospitals. This reduces the reliability of current readmission measures that is expected from high-quality indicators of care.The aim of this research project was to develop, operationalise, and validate a definition of potentially preventable readmission that can be used as part of a readmission performance indicator. An algorithm was used to determine preventability from hospital administrative data. This definition was validated using an audit of readmissions in the Northern NSW Local Health District. Preventability due to hospital factors was accurately determined by the algorithm. Patient, transition to community care and community care factors could not be properly identified from hospital administrative data.