A survey of 320 hospital executives revealed that while 74% are confident in their ability to reduce readmissions, only 55% expect penalties, despite a 78% penalty rate increasing yearly. Common strategies include medication reconciliation and patient education, but less than 20% use targeted technology for readmission risk management. This overconfidence may lead to underpreparedness as the true percentage of hospitals facing penalties is likely higher than anticipated.

1. Q-Centrix conducted an anonymous survey of 320 C-suite, senior-level and quality professionals from hospitals
around the country to learn their perceptions of the current state of readmissions at their hospitals and their
strategies for readmission reduction.
Most commonly-used strategies
55%Expect to
be penalized
Completing a medication
reconciliation process
Educating patients and patient
caregivers pre-discharge
Conducting phone calls or other
communication post-discharge
Less than 1 in 5 use
technology specifically
designed to manage
readmission risk.
Conducting in-home visits post-discharge92%
87%
84%
26%
Using technology specifically designed
to manage readmission risk
No formal strategy
18%
3%
Least commonly-used strategies
Penalty
of <1%
47%
40%
Penalty
of 1-1.9%
9%
Penalty
of 2-2.9%
4%
Penalty
of 3%
Anticipated Penalty
Percentage*
*Of non-exempt hospitals expecting a penalty
23%15%
and, on average, are employing 4.5 different reduction strategies...
of C-Suites
= Extremely Confident
of Quality Professionals
= Extremely Confident
}
Visit www.q-centrix.com/readmission-reduction for
readmission reduction resources and best practices.
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FY 13 FY 14 FY 15 Survey
64%
66%
78%
55%
Hospitals are confident in their ability to reduce readmissions...
but the percentage expecting penalties may be too low.
Nearly three-quarters of
hospitals describe themselves
as “somewhat” or “extremely”
confident in their ability to
reduce readmissions.
74%
VS
When it comes to readmission penalties, the survey data shows that hospitals are overconfident and underprepared. The
percentage of hospitals penalized for readmissions has increased each year since CMS began imposing them—reaching a high
of 78% for FY 2015. Yet three-quarters of hospitals feel confident in their ability to reduce readmissions and only 55% of them
anticipate receiving a penalty for this year. Given the historical trend and the three additional diagnoses recently added, the
percentage of hospitals penalized will likely be much higher than 55%. And though hospitals are applying multiple different
reduction strategies, less than 1 in 5 utilize technology that's specific to reducing their readmissions, so they may not be doing
all that they can.
% of Hospitals Penalized FY '13-FY '15* vs.
% of Surveyed Hospitals Expecting Penalty for this Year
*Source: Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of CMS Final Rules and Impact files for the HIPPS