Background Higher-than-expected heart failure (HF) readmissions affect half of US hospitals every year. The Hospital Reduction Readmission Program has reduced risk-adjusted readmissions, but it has also produced unintended consequences. Shared care models have been advocated for HF care, but the association of shared care networks with HF readmissions has never been investigated. Objective This study aims to evaluate the association of shared care networks with 30-day HF excessive readmission rates using a longitudinal observational study. Methods We curated publicly available data on hospital discharges and HF excessive readmission ratios from hospitals in California between 2012 and 2017. Shared care areas were delineated as data-driven units of care coordination emerging from discharge networks. The localization index, the proportion of patients who reside in the same shared care area in which they are admitted, was calculated by year. Generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate the association between the localization index and the excessive readmission ratio of hospitals controlling for race/ethnicity and socioeconomic factors. Results A total of 300 hospitals in California in a 6-year period were included. The HF excessive readmission ratio was negatively associated with the adjusted localization index (β=–.0474, 95% CI –0.082 to –0.013). The percentage of Black residents within the shared care areas was the only statistically significant covariate (β=.4128, 95% CI 0.302 to 0.524). Conclusions Higher-than-expected HF readmissions were associated with shared care networks. Control mechanisms such as the Hospital Reduction Readmission Program may need to characterize and reward shared care to guide hospitals toward a more organized HF care system.
