Does Increased Access to Primary Care Reduce Hospital Readmissions?

Despite strategies such as prospective payment and required approval for hospitalization before admission, costs of inpatient care in 1993 accounted for $327 billion, or 42 percent of national spending for medical care. 1 Readmissions account for up to half of all hospitalizations and 60 percent of hospital costs. 2 – 5 Besides the expense, readmissions may reflect poor-quality care. 6 – 9 There is pressure both to reduce inpatient services and to deliver high-quality care. One efficient strategy would be to identify patients who are at increased risk for hospital readmission and to provide them with intensive primary care. 8 , 10 Because of their multiple coexisting . . .