Characteristics and Costs of Potentially Preventable Inpatient Stays, 2017 #259

Characteristics and Costs of Potentially Preventable Inpatient Stays, 2017 #259

AHRQ Report: 3.5 Million Hospitalizations Considered Potentially Avoidable

A new statistical brief from AHRQ’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project quantifies potentially avoidable hospital stays, which evidence suggests may be avoidable, in part, through timely and quality primary and preventive care. Among the findings for 2017: As many as 3.5 million adult hospital stays were considered potentially preventable, costing nearly $34 billion. Eight percent of approximately 1.3 million pediatric hospital stays were considered potentially preventable, costing nearly $562 million. Heart failure was the most common and most expensive reason for potentially preventable hospital stays among adults. That diagnosis represented more than 1.1 million hospital stays with costs totaling $11.2 billion. Access the statistical brief, as well as an interactive data visualization tool to explore potentially avoidable hospital stays by age group, community-level income and geographic region.