Roughly one-quarter of all hospital patients were readmitted for the same conditions that prompted their initial hospitalization over a two-year period, according to a recent report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

According to the federal agency's analysis of data on 15 million patients in 12 States in 2006 and 2007, more than a third of those who had hardening of the arteries (called coronary atherosclerosis) were readmitted at least once to the hospital during the period. Multiple readmissions were also seen for 30 percent of patients with uncomplicated diabetes, 28 percent with high blood pressure, and 21 percent with asthma.

AHRQ also found that:

· Among Medicare patients, 42 percent experienced multiple hospital admissions and 38 percent multiple emergency department visits. For Medicaid patients, 23 percent experienced multiple hospital admissions, and 50 percent went to the emergency department more than once.

· About 22 percent of uninsured patients had multiple hospital readmissions, and 38 percent had multiple hospital emergency department visits but were not admitted.

· Privately insured patients were the least likely to require multiple hospital readmissions (19 percent) or make multiple visits to the emergency department (29 percent).

While some patients may be readmitted because of the severity and complexity of their underlying condition, research shows that many repeat admissions can be avoided if patients have better outpatient care. Readmissions can also drive up health care costs.

These findings are based on data described in Hospital Readmissions and Multiple Emergency Department Visits, in Selected States, 2006-2007. The report uses statistics from the HCUP State Inpatient Databases (SID) and HCUP State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD) for 12 States: Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah.

Nearly 12 million visits made to U.S. hospital emergency departments in 2007 involved people with a mental disorder, substance abuse problem, or both, according to another recent report from AHRQ. This accounts for one in eight of the 95 million visits to emergency departments by adults that year.

Of these visits, about two-thirds involved patients with a mental disorder, one-quarter was for patients with a substance abuse problem, and the remainder involved patients with both a mental disorder and substance abuse diagnosis.

The analysis also found that for the 12 million emergency department visits involving mental health and/or substance abuse:

· Depression and other mood disorders accounted for 43 percent of the visits, while 26 percent were for anxiety disorders and 23 percent involved alcohol-related problems.

· Mental health and/or substance abuse-related visits were 2.5 times more likely to result in hospital admission than visits not involving mental disorders and/or substance abuse. Nearly 41 percent of mental disorder and/or substance abuse-related visits resulted in hospitalization.

· Medicare was billed for 30 percent of all mental health and/or substance abuse emergency department visits; private insurance was billed for 26 percent; the uninsured for 21 percent; and Medicaid for 20 percent.

These findings are based on data described in