Unplanned readmissions to acute care from a pediatric postacute care hospital: incidence, clinical reasons, and predictive factors.

OBJECTIVE To identify the incidence, clinical reasons, and predictive factors for unplanned readmissions to acute care from a pediatric postacute care hospital. METHODS A retrospective cohort analysis of all discharges between October 1, 2011, and September 30, 2013 (n=298), in 1 pediatric postacute care hospital was conducted. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the incidence and assess the clinical reasons for all readmissions to an acute care hospital. Logistic regression was used to identify predictive factors of any unplanned readmission to an acute care hospital. RESULTS Thirty percent of all postacute care hospital discharges were unplanned readmissions to an acute care hospital. The primary clinical reasons for unplanned readmissions to acute care were respiratory decompensation (54%) and infection (20%). Requiring invasive mechanical ventilation, being <1 year of age, and having a postacute care length of stay<30 days were the 3 predictive factors. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to examine readmission to acute care from a postacute care hospital and to identify age, length of stay, and dependence on mechanical ventilation as predictive factors. Understanding which children are likely to require an unplanned readmission may allow providers to develop strategies to minimize this occurrence.