Title: Prediction of Pneumonia 30-Day Readmissions: A Single-Center Attempt to Increase Model Performance.

Epub ahead of print papers have been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication but are posted before being copy edited and proofread, and as a result, may differ substantially when published in final version in the online and print editions of RESPIRATORY CARE. Copyright (C) 2013 Daedalus Enterprises Background: Existing models developed to predict 30 days readmissions for pneumonia lack discriminative ability. This study is an attempt to increase model performance with the addition of variables found of benefit in other studies. Methods: From 133,368 admissions to a tertiary-care hospital from Jan 2009 to March 2012, the study cohort consisted of 956 index admissions for pneumonia using the CMS definition. We collected variables previously reported to be associated with 30-day all-cause readmission, including vital signs, comorbidities, laboratory values, demographics, socio-economic indicators, and indicators of hospital utilization. Separate logistic regression models were developed to identify the predictors of all-cause hospital readmission 30 days after discharge from the index pneumonia admission for pneumonia-related readmissions, and for pneumonia-unrelated readmissions