Characterization of unplanned 30-day medical oncology readmissions after discharge at an academic medical center with a comprehensive cancer center.

269 Background: Hospital readmission rate is increasingly suggested as a quality care metric. Currently there are no standard criteria for an avoidable readmission in oncology. Although patients with cancer have been identified as being at increased risk of readmission, there has been little to examine the reasons for the oncology patient readmission. The aim was to examine the profiles of patients with an unplanned readmission within 30 days after discharge by an oncology provider and to measure the unplanned 30-day readmission rate. Methods: A retrospective review of oncology provider discharge encounters resulting in a 30-day unplanned readmission during the 2012 calendar year at a tertiary hospital with a comprehensive cancer center was conducted. Planned readmissions for chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, dialysis, and surgical procedures, as well as readmissions for rehabilitation, hospice, and psychiatry were excluded. Medical oncologists analyzed medical reco...