Can AM-PAC "6-Clicks" Inpatient Functional Assessment Scores Strengthen Hospital 30-Day Readmission Prevention Strategies?

Background Prevention of unplanned hospital readmissions remains a priority in the US healthcare sector. Patient functional status has evolved as an important factor in identifying patients at risk for unplanned readmissions and poor predischarge functional performance has been shown to be predictive of increased readmission risk. Yet, patient functional status appears to be underutilized in readmission prediction models. Methods To examine the impact of inpatient functional status (mobility and activity performance) on unplanned 30-day hospital readmissions at two tertiary care hospitals, retrospective cohort analysis was performed on electronic health record data from adult inpatients (N = 26,298) having undergone completed functional assessments during their index hospitalization. Primary outcomes were functional assessment scores and unplanned all-cause patient readmission within 30 days following hospital discharge. Secondary analysis stratified the assessment by discharge destination. Functional assessment scores from the Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care (AM-PAC) "6-Clicks" Basic Mobility Short Form or Daily Activity Short Form were extracted along with patient demographics, admission diagnoses, comorbid conditions, and hospital readmission risk score.  Results Adjusting for age, sex, and comorbidity, lower AM-PAC "6-Clicks" Basic Mobility and Daily Activity scores resulted in higher readmission rates when each score was considered separately. When both scores were considered, only Daily Activity scores were significant.  Conclusion Patients with lower Basic Mobility and Daily Activity scores are at a higher risk for readmission. The relative importance of AM-PAC "6-Click" scores on short-term readmission depends on discharge destination. Timely identification of patient mobility and activity performance may lead to earlier intervention strategies to reduce readmissions.