DETROIT – Factors like the level of poverty in a neighborhood, living alone, and age affect a patient's chances of being readmitted to a hospital after discharge, even after possible variations in quality of care in the hospital have been taken into account.
Those are the conclusions of a new study by Henry Ford Health System researchers who found links between readmission rates and social factors such as patients' marital status and neighborhood poverty, suggesting that readmissions are not just an issue of hospital quality.