Foundation white paper on readmissions inspired by Dr. Ron Anderson

Due to his inspiration and assistance, the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council (DFWHC) Foundation’s white paper “Readmissions in North Texas: A Comprehensive Overview of Statistics, Demographics and Charges to Identify Disparities” released this week was dedicated to Dr. Ron Anderson, former president/CEO of Parkland Health and Hospital System who died September 11. A member of the DFWHC Foundation Board, Dr. Anderson worked with Dr. Sushma Sharma during the initial investigative phase. Dr. Sharma is the director of public and population health at the DFWHC Foundation.

“He was great influence on so much of my work,” Dr. Sharma said. “One of the final projects I worked on with him was this white paper. He supervised and served as a knowledgeable mentor during the entire process.”



The report noted a significant decrease in the readmissions rate in North Texas from 2010 to 2013. By utilizing the DFWHC Foundation’s patient data warehouse of 9.8 million regional patient records, readmission rates were revealed to have dropped from 54 percent to 29 percent. The most recent numbers indicated the top-10 conditions for readmissions were heart disease, urinary system disease, device/procedure complications, bacterial infection, respiratory infection, pregnancy complications, diabetes complications, chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), lower gastrointestinal disorders and cerebrovascular disease.

The white paper also identifies disparities associated with readmissions including age, gender, race, economic status, length of stay and location.

The project was sponsored by Polsinelli. For more information, please contact Dr. Sharma at ssharma@dfwhcfoundation.org. You can also download the document here.