Hospitals are penalized by Medicare based on their rates of patient readmission for certain conditions. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study linked to Medicare claims data, Theodore Iwashyna, Kenneth Langa and colleagues examined the impact of disability and select social determinants of health on hospital readmission for pneumonia, heart failure, and acute MI. Their findings could be used to better predict and reduce the risks of patient readmission for these conditions.

More about Iwashyna, Langa and colleagues find socioeconomic links to rates of hospital readmission among older Americans >