Medical oncology patient readmissions: Are they preventable?

ReCAP: Insights Into the Potential Preventability of Oncology Readmissions

“…Using this stringent definition of preventability, they found only one of 50 readmissions (2%) to be preventable. 6 One attempt to improve reliability by concurrent assessment of preventability of both admissions and readmissions during an acute hospitalization featured interviews with physicians and other caregivers during the studied admission. 14 Physicians and caregivers who were interviewed were asked to describe the factors that were important for their assessment of an admission as preventable or not preventable.…”

“…Published studies of cancer patients at academic cancer centers suggest that 2% to 19% of admissions are preventable. 6,7 The differences among studies are likely due to differences in definitions and assumptions by the assessors of preventability. To broaden the knowledge base in this field, we analyzed the frequency, causes, and potential preventability of oncology readmissions in a community hospital setting.…”