A new report, Disparities in potentially preventable hospitalisations across Australia 2012–13 to 2017–18, from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), shows that 748,000 (1 in 15 or 6.6%) hospital admissions were classified as potentially preventable in 2017–18.
The potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH) indicator is a proxy measure of primary care effectiveness. PPH are specific hospital admissions that potentially could have been prevented by timely and adequate health care in the community. This report highlights disparities in PPH rates between populations, particularly the very young and the elderly, those in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, remote areas, and Indigenous Australians, and illustrates some challenges and opportunities for PPH reporting.
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