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Objective:

To estimate the effect of preventing postoperative complications on readmission rates and costs.

Background:

Policymakers are targeting readmission for quality improvement and cost savings. Little is known regarding mutable factors associated with postoperative readmissions.

Methods:

Patient records (2005–2008) from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) were linked to Medicare inpatient claims. Risk factors, procedure, and 30-day postoperative complications were determined from ACS-NSQIP. The 30-day postoperative readmission and costs were determined from Medicare. Occurrence of a postoperative complication included surgical site infections and cardiac, pulmonary, neurologic, and renal complications. Multivariate regression models predicted the effect of reducing complication rates on risk-adjusted readmission rates and costs by …