Preparedness for Hospital Discharge and Prediction of Readmission

BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVE: Patients' self-reported preparedness for discharge has been shown to predict readmission. It is unclear what differences exist in the predictive abilities of 2 available discharge preparedness measures. To address this gap, we conducted a comparison of these measures. DESIGN, SETTING, PATIENTS: Adults hospitalized for cardiovascular diagnoses were enrolled in a prospective cohort. MEASUREMENTS: Two patient-reported preparedness measures assessed during postdischarge calls: the 11-item Brief Prescriptions, Ready to re-enter community, Education, Placement, Assurance of safety, Realistic expectations, Empowerment, Directed to appropriate services (B-PREPARED) and the 3-item Care Transitions Measure (CTM-3). Cox proportional hazard models analyzed the relationship between preparedness and time to first readmission or death at 30 and 90 days, adjusted for readmission risk using the administrative database-derived Length of stay, Acuity, Comorbidity, and Emergency department use (LACE) index and other covariates. RESULTS: Median preparedness scores were: B-PREPARED 21 (interquartile range [IQR] 18-22) and CTM-3 77.8 (IQR 66.7-100). In individual Cox models, a 4-point increase in B-PREPARED score was associated with a 16% decrease in time to readmission or death at 30 and 90 days. A 10-point increase in CTM-3 score was not associated with readmission or death at 30 days, but was associated with a 6% decrease in readmission or death at 90 days. In models with both preparedness scores, B-PREPARED retained an association with readmission or death at both 30 and 90 days. However, neither preparedness score was as strong a predictor as the LACE index when all were included in the model predicting 30- and 90-day readmission or death. CONCLUSION: The B-PREPARED score was more strongly associated with readmission or death than the more widely adopted CTM-3, but neither predicted readmission as well as the LACE index. (C) 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine