An automated model using electronic medical record data identifies patients with cirrhosis at high risk for readmission

Amit G. Singal, Robert S. Rahimi, Christopher Clark, Ying Ma, Jennifer A. Cuthbert, Don C. Rockey, Ruben Amarasingham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

74 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background & Aims: Patients with cirrhosis have 1-month rates of readmission as high as 35%. Early identification of high-risk patients could permit interventions to reduce readmission. The aim of our study was to construct an automated 30-day readmission risk model for cirrhotic patients using electronic medical record (EMR) data available early during hospitalization. Methods: We identified patients with cirrhosis admitted to a large safety-net hospital from January 2008 through December 2009. A multiple logistic regression model for 30-day rehospitalization was developed using medical and socioeconomic factors available within 48 hours of admission and tested on a validation cohort. Discrimination was assessed using receiver operator characteristic curve analysis. Results: We identified 836 cirrhotic patients with 1291 unique admission encounters. Rehospitalization occurred within 30 days for 27% of patients. Significant predictors of 30-day readmission included the number of address changes in the prior year (odds ratio [OR], 1.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-1.21), number of admissions in the prior year (OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.05-1.24), Medicaid insurance (OR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.10-2.13), thrombocytopenia (OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.35-0.72), low level of alanine aminotransferase (OR, 2.56; 95% CI, 1.09-6.00), anemia (OR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.17-2.27), hyponatremia (OR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.14-2.80), and Model for End-stage Liver Disease score (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01-1.06). The risk model predicted 30-day readmission, with c-statistics of 0.68 (95% CI, 0.64-0.72) and 0.66 (95% CI, 0.59-0.73) in the derivation and validation cohorts, respectively. Conclusions: Clinical and social factors available early during admission and extractable from an EMR predicted 30-day readmission in cirrhotic patients with moderate accuracy. Decision support tools that use EMR-automated data are useful for risk stratification of patients with cirrhosis early during hospitalization.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1335-1341.e1
JournalClinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Volume11
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2013

Keywords

  • Hepatic Informatics
  • Liver Disease
  • Quality of Care
  • Rehospitalization
  • Risk Model

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hepatology
  • Gastroenterology

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