Definitions of Hospital Readmissions Hospital readmissions were defined in -a Variety of Ways, with a length of readmission that ranged from as few as 7days to as long as 23/ears. In certain studies, a clear definition of hospital read-Emissions was presmteci. Landrum and Weinrich (2006) recommended ‘consistent use of a definitional framework for measuring hospital readmissions that included: identification of an index hospitalization; admission reason, diagnosis, and/or purpose; time frame from discharge to readmission; and the data source. Few studies in the sample described identification of an index hospitalization, although many examined the readmission cause or diagnosis. Wide gaps were observed in the discharge to readmission time frame, and in some cases the time frame was not explicitly stated