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Low-Volume Hospitals Better According to BMJ

By Brock Slabach posted 04-23-2015 12:02 PM

  
NRHA Member Ed Gamache from Michigan forwarded me an article entitled "Association of hospital volume with readmission rates: a retrospective cross-sectional study" from the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Here is the article's conclusion:

Standardized readmission rates are lowest in the lowest volume hospitals—opposite from the typical association of greater hospital volume with better outcomes. This association was independent of hospital characteristics and was only partially attenuated by examining mortality and readmission together. Our findings suggest that readmissions are associated with different aspects of care than mortality or complications.

This is consistent with NRHA data on rural relevance provided through iVantage Health Analytics. We document that not only is quality equal to or better between rural and urban providers, but rural communities do so less expensively.

This BMJ article is another offering that supports our claims that rural communities provide better care at lower costs. It's all about the value!
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