Hospital Readmission Data

Beginning October 1, 2012, hospitals will begin to be penalized whenever a 30-day readmission rate for a particular disease exceed the standards set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. On average, the 30-day readmission rate in the United States is about 18%. Southwest Health System's goal is to keep that below 9%.

A readmission is defined as anyone who is readmitted to the hospital within 30-days of their previous discharge, regardless of the reason for the second admission. It does not have to be for the same illness or injury.