Identifying Predictors of Heart Failure Readmission in Patients From a Statutory Health Insurance Database: Retrospective Machine Learning Study.

While many of the predictors we identified were known to be relevant comorbidities for HF, we also uncovered several novel associations. Disease management programs have widely been shown to be effective at managing chronic disease; however, our results indicate that in the short term they may be useful for targeting patients with HF with comorbidity at increased risk of readmission. Our results also show that living in a more rural location increases the risk of readmission. Overall, factors beyond comorbid disease were relevant for risk of HF readmission. This finding may impact how outpatient physicians identify and monitor patients at risk of HF readmission.