In order to curb readmission rates and make sure hospitals pay more attention to patients after their departure, the Hospital Readmission Program (HRRP) was created in 2010 as part of the Affordable Care Act. It took effect in October 2012 and since then, bad players with high readmission rates are being penalized by Medicare and get their payment for each of their Medicare patients reduced by up to 3%.
A total of 3,046 hospitals in the country are included in this program while hospitals treating children, veterans and psychiatric patients are excluded.
Medicare recently announced its 10th annual round of penalties which are based on Medicare patients discharged between July 1st 2017 and December 1st 2019. Medicare did not include the first 6 months of 2020 in its calculation because of the covid19 crisis.
2,499 hospitals were penalized and 547 hospitals were not. The highest penalty, a 3% reduction per Medicare patients admitted, was given to 39 hospitals in the nation.
In New York State, the hospital hit with the most severe penalty was HEALTHALLIANCE HOSPITAL MARYS AVENUE CAMPUS in Kingston, with a 2.97% penalty. AUBURN COMMUNITY HOSPITAL in Auburn had the second worst penalty at 2.5%. GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER in Islip came third of the worst with a 2.3% penalty.
In New York City, hospitals with the highest rate of readmission were:
- the NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN/BROOKLYN METHODIST HOSPITAL in Brooklyn that was fined with a 1.18% penalty
- ST JOHN’S EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL AT SOUTH SHORE in Far Rockaway with a 1.14% penalty
- NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS/CONEY ISLAND in Brooklyn with a 1.01% penalty
NY Hospitals with the lowest readmission rate that were not penalized were:
- WESTFIELD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, INC in Westfield
- ST JAMES MERCY HOSPITAL in Hornell
- SAMARITAN HOSPITAL OF TROY, NEW YORK in Troy
- NORTHWELL HOSPITAL GLEN COVE in Glen Cove
- MERCY HOSPITAL OF BUFFALO in Buffalo
- ERIE COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER in Buffalo
- BROOKS-TLC HOSPITAL SYSTEM, INC in Dunkirk
And in the City:
- NORTH CENTRAL BRONX HOSPITAL in the Bronx
- METROPOLITAN HOSPITAL CENTER in Manhattan
- HOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERY in Manhattan
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