Clinical Conversations

January 16th, 2020

Podcast 248: “Hotspotting” didn’t work in its home town — why?

The process of identifying super-users of healthcare and reducing the frequency of their hospitalizations — so-called “hotspotting” — was subjected to a randomized, controlled trial in Camden, NJ, the birthplace of the idea. It failed there. Those in the intervention group had a readmission rate within 6 months that was statistically identical to those getting usual care. […]

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August 23rd, 2019

Podcast 230 — Hospital-readmissions gaming?

The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP for short) seems to be reducing 30-day readmissions — but what about revisits to facilities within those 30 days? Rishi Wadhera and his co-authors measured readmissions, plus treat-and-discharge ER visits, plus stays in observation units among some 3 million Medicare discharges of a near-4-year span. They found that broadening the […]

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