Association of Extending Hospital Length of Stay With Reduced Pediatric Hospital Readmissions
Hospital readmission rates are widely used as a quality measure for hospitalized patients. Hospital readmission gained attention largely from concerns about the quality of discharge care, including those patients discharged before they were adequately prepared to leave the hospital. In adult patients, shorter index hospitalization length of stay (LOS) is associated with a higher risk of hospital readmission for some conditions. This association has not been shown in children, and it remains unknown whether specific pediatric conditions might benefit from increasing LOS. Therefore, this study explored the association between index hospitalization LOS and pediatric readmissions by capitalizing on the natural variation in LOS across patients and hospitals.