Heart failure & cardiomyopathies
Impact of the Swedish Care Coordination Act on Heart Failure Readmissions and Length of Stay
Authors' conclusion
After introducing the CCA, no detectable impact was found on readmissions or mortality for patients with heart failure, which is in line with previous studies, such as those studying the US Hospital Readmission Reduction Program. Although no overall association with length of stay could be identified, it was reduced in several Swedish regions.
Study context
- Population
- Elderly (>65 years), multimorbid patients admitted with a primary diagnosis of HF (ICD I50), Sweden, 2015–2019
- Participants
- 111,414 admissions
- Comparison
- After vs before the Care Coordination Act
- Outcome
- All-cause readmissions and length of stay
- Follow-up
- 30 days (readmissions)
Methodological detailsnationwide, hierarchical mixed models with random effects clustered at hospital ward level
- Nationwide
- Hierarchical mixed models with random effects clustered at hospital ward level
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
All-cause 30-day readmission and length of stay
Readmission rate (average)
Days
| Outcome | Before CCA | After CCA |
|---|---|---|
| Length of stay (average) | 8.4 | 8.1 |
Further findings
30-day mortality
30-day mortality
- No significant difference between periods
Overall linear time trend by region
- Regions with reduction in readmissions (of 21)
- 2
- Regions with reduction in length of stay (of 21)
- 10
Original publication
Impact of the Swedish Care Coordination Act on Heart Failure Readmissions and Length of Stay. Circ Heart Fail. Published 31 October 2025. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it