PONE-D-20-03174

Community Factors and Hospital Wide Readmission Rates: Does Context Matter

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Spatz,

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Prof, Mojtaba Vaismoradi, PhD, MScN, BScN

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer #1: Title: Community Factors and Hospital Wide Readmission Rates: Does Context Matter?

This manuscript provides valuable information about community factors relationship with hospital-wide readmission. However, it should be revised professionally. Please find my comments in follow:

General:

The authors should follow the author guideline of PlosOne journal.

Please edit the manuscript in terms of some grammar errors and Punctuation.

Abstract:

You should specify where the study was conducted or which country data was used for analysis.

" R2" should be added for each of percentage of domains.

Introduction:

Page 4, line3: “report”

Paragraph 2 do not have references, please add

Methods:

Article writing should be standard to make it easier for readers to follow the article, so make the following changes

Please move the “conceptual model” to the introduction section

Then in the methods discuss clearly about: 1. Design and Setting

2. Participants

3. Study Variables (including Main variable and Confounders)

Please write the full form of the "RWJF" in first use.

Please develop a section under the subheading of "Ethical Considerations” in the method.

Results:

“R2" should be added for each of percentage of domains

Table 2: More detail about multivariable model should be added including: 1. Describe qualitatively value “1…5”

2. Beta coefficient

3. CI 95%

Discussion:

Please specify and justified the role of race/ethnicity in HWR in relation to minority diminish return theory (MDR) that recently developed by number of scholars such as DR. Assari and Bazargan in US context.

Reviewer #2: The manuscript is generally scientifically sound with information that will contribute to knowledge and with implications for new strategies in patient management to reduce readmissions. The following observations however need to be corrected.

Methods

The study area is left out in the methods. Is the data for the whole of USA?

It is desirable to have examples of such conditions and procedures that were excluded.

Results

Figure 1 not provided in this manuscript

Discussion

Pg 17 - Cite some previous studies that observed social risk factors contribution to readmission rates. Compare findings of this study with previous studies (if there are). It must be clearly stated if there are no previous studies or similar studies to be compared with this study.

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: HWRcommunity_Submission_FINAL-rev.docx

Attachment

Submitted filename: Comment - HWR.docx

PONE-D-20-03174R1

Community Factors and Hospital Wide Readmission Rates: Does Context Matter

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Spatz,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Aug 16 2020 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Prof, Mojtaba Vaismoradi, PhD, MScN, BScN

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

[Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.]

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer #1: Thank you for addressing my comments. I did not find a footnote in table 2 identifying the values 1-5 as representing quintiles of each variable that you mentioned in the reviewer response.

Reviewer #2: No additional new comment for the authors. Authors have addressed comments raised in initial review earlier submitted

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[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

Community Factors and Hospital Wide Readmission Rates: Does Context Matter

PONE-D-20-03174R2

Dear Dr. Spatz,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Prof, Mojtaba Vaismoradi, PhD, MScN, BScN

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE