Hospitals pay for cutting costly readmissions

New York Times, May 11, 2009

Millions of patients each year leave the hospital only to return within weeks or months for lack of proper follow-up care. But even when hospitals find ways to greatly reduce the return trips and save money for Medicare and other insurers, their efforts go unrewarded. In fact, because insurers typically pay hospitals to treat patients, hospitals can actually lose money by providing better care because empty beds mean lost revenue.