“Critics say pressure to lower hospital readmissions may be backfiring,” by Kimberley Marselas, McKnight’s LTC News

“Five years after financial penalties went into place for hospitals with high readmission rates, experts are questioning whether falling return rates mean patients actually are faring better. In an analysis by STAT, some skeptics say fewer readmissions belie a darker truth — that hospitals are taking shortcuts, and in some cases compromising patient care, to avoid financial pain and public embarrassment.”

LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):

Prices in free markets express consumers’ preferences and best interests. Unfortunately, when governments run markets distorting price signals and trying to fix messes they create by tinkering with “incentives,” what we get are results like these as crony capitalists adapt to maximize their financial interests.

Critics say pressure to lower hospital readmissions may be backfiring

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