Photo Credit: Martin Barraud

The risk for 30-day readmission is high for adult sepsis survivors discharged to skilled nursing facilities, home healthcare, and home, according to a study published in the American Journal of Critical Care. Priscilla Hartley, DNP, RN, and colleagues examined 30-day hospital readmission rates by discharge setting in 7,107 sepsis survivors (mean age, 66.5). Nearly a quarter (23.6%) of the sample was readmitted within 30 days, and 30% of those readmitted were readmitted between one and three times. There were significant associations seen for discharge setting and age with readmission, but not for sex, ethnicity, and insurance type. Patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities, home healthcare, and home had high rates of readmissions (29.6%, 26.9%, and 15.0%) and similar high comorbidity burden and acuteness of illness. “Examining the origin of these readmissions builds evidence for developing and testing intervention strategies to close the gap between hospitals and all discharge settings,” Dr. Hartley and colleagues wrote.