Patient Readmission Rate
Percentage of patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge
What is Patient Readmission Rate?
Patient readmission rate is the percentage of discharged patients who return to hospital within 30 days. It shows how well care and discharge planning work.
High readmission can signal that patients were discharged too early or without enough support, and it adds cost and burden for patients and services.
How this KPI is measured
- Function
- Operations & Supply Chain
- Sub-function
- Clinical Quality
- Industry
- Healthcare
- Type
- Lagging
- Impact
- Quality
- Unit
- %
- Measurement frequency
- Monthly
- Formula
- (Number of readmissions within 30 days / Total discharges) × 100
How to calculate it
Divide the number of readmissions within 30 days by the total number of discharges, and multiply by 100.
For example, if 1,000 patients were discharged and 90 returned within 30 days, the rate is 9%.
Make sure you use the definition set by your health system, such as which readmissions count, and adjust for case mix when comparing hospitals.
Where it is used
Assessing care quality
Check outcomes after discharge.
Improving discharge planning
Find gaps in follow-up.
Managing costs
Reduce avoidable return admissions.
How to improve it
Tips and common mistakes
- Adjust for patient complexity when comparing.
- Some readmissions are planned or unavoidable.
- Handle patient data under privacy rules.
More Operations & Supply Chain kpi library
Build better plans, faster
Join the waitlist for early access to curated insights, flexible templates, and rapid iteration across strategy, planning, and project management.