A record number of hospitals were fined by Medicare for having too many 30-day readmissions, according to Healthcare Finance News. The national readmission rate is dropping but average fines will be higher.

The penalties are designed to make hospitals take a more active role in patient discharge plans to ensure that patients aren’t readmitted. In 2013, nearly 18% of hospitalized Medicare patients were readmitted within a month.

The fines are based on readmissions from July 2010 to July 2013. Thirty-nine hospitals that had the highest readmission rates will lose 3% of each payment, an increase from last year’s maximum fine of 2%.

Read the article here.