Association of the hospital readmission reduction program with readmission and mortality outcomes after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

ABSTRACT

The Affordable Care Act established the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) to reduce payments to hospitals with excessive readmissions in an effort to link payment to the quality of hospital care. Prior studies demonstrating an association of HRRP implementation with increased mortality after heart failure discharges have prompted concern for potential unintended adverse consequences of the HRRP. We examined the impact of these policies on coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery outcomes using the Nationwide Readmissions Database and found that, in line with previously observed readmission trends for CABG, readmission rates continued to decline in the era of the HRRP, but that this did not come at the expense of increased mortality. These results suggest that inclusion of surgical procedures, such as CABG in the HRRP might be an effective cost-reducing measure that does not adversely affect quality of hospital care.