Hospitals in 49 of the 50 states have reduced their Medicare readmissions since the federal health care program introduced its readmissions reduction program in 2010.
Only hospitals in Vermont have failed to cut readmissions.
Nationally, readmissions fell more than five percent in 43 states and more than ten percent in 11 states. Overall, readmissions fell 100,000 in 2015 alone compared to 2010 and have fallen 565,000 since 2010.
As the program ages more medical conditions are being subjected to the readmissions reduction program’s requirements. In the coming year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimates it will penalize 2500 hospitals $538 million for failing to reduce their readmissions.
Learn more about CMS’s efforts to reduce readmissions among Medicare patients in this entry on the CMS Blog.