Table 3.

Communication Category and Readmission Rates for High‐Risk and Low‐Risk Patients, One Communication Attempt

	%	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
Panel A: Low‐Readmission‐Risk Patients
(1) Category D communication	10.7	−0.012	0.003	0.009	0.008	0.013	0.004
		(0.033)	(0.033)	(0.032)	(0.032)	(0.034)	(0.036)
(2) Category C communication	25.7						0.021
							(0.035)
(3) Category B communication	22.5						−0.054
							(0.035)
N		1,340	1,340	1,340	1,340	1,340	1,340
Patient characteristics		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nurse characteristics		No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Physician characteristics		No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hospital indicators		No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Panel B: High‐Readmission‐Risk Patients
(1) Category D communication	11.7	0.096**	0.105**	0.108**	0.105**	0.097**	0.112**
		(0.041)	(0.044)	(0.044)	(0.045)	(0.048)	(0.050)
(2) Category C communication	25.1						0.036
							(0.033)
(3) Category B communication	22.2						0.011
							(0.037)
N		1,340	1,340	1,340	1,340	1,340	1,340
Patient characteristics		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nurse characteristics		No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Physician characteristics		No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hospital indicators		No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Panel C: Full Sample
(1) Category D communication × high readmission risk	11.2	0.107**	0.098*	0.098*	0.097*	0.096*	0.113**
		(0.051)	(0.051)	(0.051)	(0.051)	(0.054)	(0.054)
(2) Category C communication × high readmission risk	25.4						0.009
							(0.042)
(3) Category B communication × high readmission risk	22.4						0.058
							(0.042)
N		2,680	2,680	2,680	2,680	2,680	2,680
Patient characteristics		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nurse characteristics		No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Physician characteristics		No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hospital indicators		No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes

The 30‐day readmission rate for the “low readmission risk” sample is 14.9%, for the “high readmission risk” sample is 29.8%, and for the full sample is 22.4%. “D”: nurse unable to reach the physician, physician office staff, or to leave a message (communication failure). “C”: nurse left a message, paged the physician, or sent a fax. “B”: nurse communicated with the physician's office staff, but not with the physician. “A”: nurse communicated directly or indirectly with the patient's physician.

**Significant at the 5 percent level. *Significant at the 10 percent level.