Study: Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program May Increase Deaths

Association of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program With Mortality Among Medicare Beneficiaries Hospitalized for Heart Failure, Acute Myocardial Infarction, and Pneumonia – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentaries: Did This Health Care Policy Do Harm? – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND Study Finds Implementation of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program Associated With Increase in Patient-Level Mortality – Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (free) AND Penalties For Hospital Readmissions May Boost Deaths, Study Finds – CommonHealth (free)