Did the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program Reduce Readmissions? An Assessment of Prior Evidence and New Estimates / Engy Ziedan, Robert Kaestner.

By:

Ziedan, Engy

Contributor(s):

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) ; no. w29545.Publication details: Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2021.Description: 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white)Subject(s):

Online resources:

Available additional physical forms:

Hardcopy version available to institutional subscribers

Abstract: In this article, we provide a comprehensive, empirical assessment of the hypothesis that the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) affected hospital readmissions. In doing so, we provide evidence as to the validity of prior empirical approaches used to evaluate the HRRP and we present results from a previously unused approach to study this research question--a regression-kink design. Results of our analysis document that the empirical approaches used in most prior research assessing the efficacy of the HRRP often lack internal validity. Therefore, results from these studies may not be informative about the causal consequences of the HRRP. Results from our regression-kink analysis, which we validate, suggest that the HRRP had little effect on hospital readmissions. This finding contrasts with the results of most prior studies, which report that the HRRP significantly reduced readmissions. Our finding is consistent with conceptual considerations related to the assumptions underlying HRRP penalty; in particular, the difficulty of identifying preventable readmissions, the highly imperfect risk adjustment that affects the penalty determination and the absence of proven tools to reduce readmissions.

Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.

Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)

Holdings
Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Working Paper	Biblioteca Digital	Colección NBER	nber w29545 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Not For Loan

Total holds: 0

Collection: Colección NBER Close shelf browser (Hides shelf browser)

Previous	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	Next
Previous	nber w29542 Unlocking the Benefits of Credit through Saving /	nber w29543 Attention, Social Interaction, and Investor Attraction to Lottery Stocks /	nber w29544 Capital Return Jumps and Wealth Distribution /	nber w29545 Did the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program Reduce Readmissions? An Assessment of Prior Evidence and New Estimates /	nber w29546 Gifted & Talented Programs and Racial Segregation /	nber w29547 The Incidence of the Corporate Income Tax is Irrelevant for its (Benefit-Based) Justification /	nber w29548 Productivity and Pay in the US and Canada /	Next

December 2021.

In this article, we provide a comprehensive, empirical assessment of the hypothesis that the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) affected hospital readmissions. In doing so, we provide evidence as to the validity of prior empirical approaches used to evaluate the HRRP and we present results from a previously unused approach to study this research question--a regression-kink design. Results of our analysis document that the empirical approaches used in most prior research assessing the efficacy of the HRRP often lack internal validity. Therefore, results from these studies may not be informative about the causal consequences of the HRRP. Results from our regression-kink analysis, which we validate, suggest that the HRRP had little effect on hospital readmissions. This finding contrasts with the results of most prior studies, which report that the HRRP significantly reduced readmissions. Our finding is consistent with conceptual considerations related to the assumptions underlying HRRP penalty; in particular, the difficulty of identifying preventable readmissions, the highly imperfect risk adjustment that affects the penalty determination and the absence of proven tools to reduce readmissions.