Telehealth-integrated post-discharge services were associated with lower 30-day heart failure readmission rates (-0.32, p=0.024) exclusively among 2-star rated hospitals.
Do telemedicine-integrated transitional care programs reduce 30-day readmission rates for AMI, HF, and all-cause readmissions?
US hospitals evaluated in the 2022 American Hospital Association Annual Survey, CMS Hospital Readmission Reduction Program, and HCAHPS for AMI, HF, and all-cause readmissions
Telemedicine-integrated transitional care programs (telehealth post-discharge services)
Hospitals without telehealth-integrated post-discharge services or with differing CMS transition of care star ratings
30-day hospital readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), and all-cause readmissionshard clinical
Telemedicine-integrated transitional care is associated with reduced 30-day heart failure readmissions specifically in lower-rated (2-star) hospitals, suggesting its value depends on baseline facility quality.
• Higher Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) star ratings of care transitions are associated with reduced 30-day hospital readmission rates. • Patient telehealth benefits differ based on three main factors: facility, quality, and clinical condition type. • Hospitals reporting 2-star CMS ratings were associated with higher telehealth effectiveness for 30-day readmissions related to heart failure. The integration of telemedicine within transition of care models has shown to be a promising solution in improving patient outcomes via its association with reduced 30-day hospital readmission rates. Yet little is known about how transition of care models impact hospitals’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS’) 5-star quality rankings. As such, this study seeks to examine the associations telemedicine-integrated transitional care programs and quality metrics such as CMS transition of care star ratings and 30-day readmission rates for three measures: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), and all cause readmissions. Applying a cross-sectional study design, we collected data from the 2022 American Hospital Association Annual Survey, the CMS Hospital Readmission Reduction Program, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS), and Area Health Resource Files. Mixed effects modeling was employed to examine associations between telehealth post-discharge services, transition care star ratings, and 30-day readmission rates. Hospitals with higher transition care star ratings had lower 30-day readmission rate for HF (3-star: −0.89, 4-star: −0.97, 5-star: −0.96; p < 0.001) and for all-case readmission rate (3-star: −0.30, 4-star: −0.40, 5-star: −0.48; p < 0.001). However, for AMI 30-day readmissions, only 4-star transition of care hospitals reported statistically significant reductions (−0.34, p < 0.05). Our findings show that telehealth-integrated post-discharge services was associated with lower 30-day HF readmission rate among 2-star rated hospitals only (−0.32, p = 0.024), no other associations were found. Our findings show that hospitals with higher CMS care transition ratings are associated with positive quality outcome improvements in 30-day AMI, HF, and all cause readmissions, however, the association between hospitals with telehealth services and quality outcomes varied based on facility rating and condition type. This suggests that strategies to integrate telehealth into the care transition process should consider care transition quality rankings and organizational factors such as market competition.
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Krysta Kishbaugh
Brittany Kennedy
Hanadi Hamadi
Clinical eHealth
University of North Florida
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Kishbaugh et al. (Sun,) reported a other. Telehealth-integrated post-discharge services were associated with lower 30-day heart failure readmission rates (-0.32, p=0.024) exclusively among 2-star rated hospitals.
www.synapsesocial.com/papers/69c770888bbfbc51511e08ea — DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceh.2026.03.001