Unplanned/unexpected hospital readmissions are those readmissions where the principal diagnosis indicates an adverse event.

Principal diagnoses codes

A principal diagnosis for the readmission has one of the following ICD-10-AM (10th edn.) codes: T80–88, E89, G97, H59, H95, I97, J95, K91, M96 or N99.

Procedure codes

Number of separations in which 1 of the following surgical procedures was undertaken: knee replacement; hip replacement; tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy; hysterectomy; prostatectomy; cataract surgery; or appendicectomy.

The following is a list of the specific Australian Classification of Health Interventions (10th edn) procedure codes which are included in the specifications for each of the selected surgical procedures.

Limited to public hospitals.

Denominator limited to separations with a separation date between 1 July and 19 May in the reference year.

Denominator excludes separations where the patient died in hospital.

Analysis by state and territory is based on location of the service.

Analysis by remoteness and Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (IRSD) is based on usual residence of the person.

Presented per 1,000 separations.

1,000 x (Numerator ÷ Denominator)

Calculated separately for each of the specified procedures

Number of separations for public hospitals which meet all of the following criteria:

• the separation is a readmission to the same hospital following a separation in which one of the following procedures was performed: knee replacement; hip replacement; tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy; hysterectomy; prostatectomy; cataract surgery; or appendicectomy (see procedure codes in Computation description)
• the readmission occurs within 28 days of the previous date of separation
• a principal diagnosis for the readmission has 1 of the following ICD-10-AM codes: T80–88, E89, G97, H59, H95, I97, J95, K91, M96 or N99.

Number of separations in which one of the following surgical procedures was undertaken: knee replacement; hip replacement; tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy; hysterectomy; prostatectomy; cataract surgery; appendicectomy.

2017–18—Nationally, by specified procedures, by:

• peer group
• Indigenous status
• remoteness (Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2016 Remoteness Structure)
• 2016 SEIFA IRSD quintiles

2017–18—State and territory, by specified procedures.

Disaggregation by peer group used the peer group classification as described in the AIHW publication Australian hospital peer groups.

Some disaggregations may result in numbers too small for publication.

Most recent data available for 2020 National Healthcare Agreement performance reporting: 2017–18.

The scope of the National Hospital Morbidity Database is episodes of care for admitted patients in essentially all hospitals in Australia, including public and private acute and psychiatric hospitals, free-standing day hospital facilities, alcohol and drug treatment hospitals and dental hospitals.

For 2017–18 data, the 2016 SEIFA IRSD quintile and decile data will be produced using the Australian Statistical Geography Standard 2016 geographical unit of Statistical Area Level 2.

Note that for the 2016 and previous reports, disaggregations by public hospital peer group for this indicator were calculated using the peer group classification method as reported in Australian hospital statistics 2010–11.

N[NN].N

National Healthcare Agreement

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Specification: Substantial work required, the measure requires significant work to be undertaken.

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2012. Australian hospital statistics 2010–11. Health services series no. 43. Cat. no. HSE 117. Canberra: AIHW.

AIHW 2015. Australian hospital peer groups. Health services series no. 66. Cat. no. HSE 170. Canberra: AIHW.