Postdischarge Interventions to Prevent Pediatric Readmissions: Lost in Translation?

Gay discusses the use of readmission rates to reflect the quality of hospital care has trickled down from the Medicare world to pediatrics. Although the validity of this approach for pediatric hospitalizations is unclear, the negative impact readmissions can have on our patients and their families provides ample incentive for us to seek preventive interventions. In this study, the intervention group used more hospital resources after discharge than control patients. If both groups had similar health care needs, then increased emergency visits and readmissions by the intervention group may not have been necessary to achieve the same clinical outcomes. Although the study was not designed to address this issue, the health outcomes of patients who do and do not use hospital services are equally important when determining the most cost-effective care.