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Background: Inpatient palliative consultation are generally provided to seriously ill hospitalized patients with the intent to alleviate pain and suffering and develop a plan of care for the patient. Although numerous benefits of this service have been documented, little is known about hospital readmission rates and factors associated with these readmissions.

Objective: Our aim was to investigate factors associated with 30-day hospital readmission among patients receiving a consultation from an inpatient palliative care (ICP) team.

Design: We conducted a retrospective cohort study.

Setting/Subjects: Data from 408 managed care patients 65 years old and older were collected in 2007–2009 following an IPC consultation and subsequent hospital discharge.

Measurements: IPC and medical service use records were utilized.

Results: Among IPC patients, 10% of those discharged from the hospital were readmitted within 30 …