Predicting potentially preventable hospital readmissions following bariatric surgery

Abstract Background Using hospital readmissions as a quality of care measure predicates that some readmissions were preventable. Objectives: This study identifies predictors of potentially preventable readmissions (PPR) within 30 days of bariatric surgery discharge. Setting: New York State acute care hospitals. Methods Adult inpatient surgical discharges, during 2012, with a principal diagnosis of overweight or obesity and a principal procedure for bariatric surgery were identified. Logistic regression was used to evaluate surgical approach, sex, age, race/ethnicity, payor, body mass index, complications and co-morbidities recorded during the surgical admission. Results There were 10,448 surgeries studied for readmission of which 552 were followed by a PPR, for a statewide rate of 5.3 per 100 surgeries. Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (LRYGB) was the most common surgical approach (46.0%), then Sleeve Gastrectomy (SG) (41.3%), Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band (LAGB) (8.1%), and Open Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) (4.6%). RYGB had the highest PPR rate (8.8), followed by LRYGB (6.1), SG (4.3) and LAGB (3.3). Compared to LAGB, the odds of a PPR in patients with RYGB, LRYGB, and SG increased by 2.4 fold, 1.8 fold and 1.2 fold respectively. Black, non-Hispanic patients were at a greater risk of PPR (odds-ratio 2.0, P