Manual and automated methods for identifying potentially preventable readmissions: a comparison in a large healthcare system.

Background: Identification of potentially preventable readmissions is typically accomplished through manual review or automated classification. Little is known about the concordance of these methods.

Methods: We manually reviewed 459 30-day, all-cause readmissions at 18 Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals, determining potential preventability through a four-step manual review process that included a chart review tool, interviews with patients, their families, and treating providers, and nurse reviewer and physician evaluation of findings and determination of preventability on a five-point scale.

Patient experiences of transitioning from hospital to home: an ethnographic quality improvement project.

Background: Little is known about patient perspectives of the transition from hospital to home.

Objective: To develop a richly detailed, patient-centered view of patient and caregiver needs in the hospital-to-home transition.

Design: An ethnographic approach including participant observation and in-depth, semi-structured video recorded interviews.

Factors contributing to all-cause 30-day readmissions: a structured case series across 18 hospitals.

Objective: To understand factors leading to all-cause 30-day readmissions in a community hospital population.

Research Design: Structured case series of 537 readmissions using chart reviews, interviews with treating physicians, patients and family caregivers, and overall case assessment by a nurse-physician team.

Setting: Eighteen Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals.