Highest percentage of readmissions occur in 45 to 64 age group

In 2008 nearly 12 percent of hospital stays were readmissions within 30 days of a previous stay, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The federal agency's analysis, which was based on data from 15 states, also found that 7 percent of hospital stays were readmissions within 14 days of their previous stay and 4 percent were readmissions within one week.

In 2008, for Medicaid patients admitted for reasons other than childbirth:

• The highest percentage of readmissions occurred to in the 45 to 64 age group. The rates were about 8 percent, 14 percent, and nearly a quarter of hospital stays within 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days of their initial stay, respectively.

• Close to 21 percent of hospital stays for those ages 18 to 44 years old were readmissions within 30 days.

• For adult Medicaid patients under age 65, the readmission rates were 50 percent higher than those of privately insured for any of time periods within 30 days of discharge.

For Medicare patients age 65 and older, about 19 percent of hospital stays were readmissions within 30 days, 11 percent were readmissions within 14 days, and 6.5 percent were readmissions within 7 days.

Source: AHRQ