The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released report on potentially preventable hospitalisations in Australia by small geographic areas. The report provides information on 22 conditions for which hospitalisation may have been prevented by timely and appropriate provision of primary or community-based health care by Primary Health Network (PHN) and Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3). These include chronic, acute and vaccine-preventable conditions. Rates for two age groups (for people aged under 65 years, and 65 years and over) are also included. The report found there were more than 715,000 potentially preventable hospitalisations in 2016–17. Rates of potentially preventable hospitalisations varied greatly across local areas. More than 9% of all hospital bed days were for potentially preventable hospitalisations, and around 6% of all hospitalisations were potentially preventable.
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- Potentially preventable hospitalisations in Australia by small geographic areas. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 4 Feb 2019