To the Editor: Potentially avoidable hospital admissions are a key concern for every health care system. Admissions for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) have been used as a proxy measure of potentially avoidable admissions in research and in policy and program development since the early 1990s. Older patients with chronic conditions are the greatest contributors to ACSC admissions, and hospital admissions for ACSCs are particularly burdensome in rural Australia.2
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- 1. Page A, Ambrose S, Glover J, Hetzel D. Atlas of avoidable hospitalisations in Australia: ambulatory care-sensitive conditions. Adelaide: Public Health Information Development Unit, University of Adelaide, 2007. http://digital. library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/45319/1/hdl_45319.pdf (accessed Mar 2013).
- 2. Ansari Z, Laditka JN, Laditka SB. Access to health care and hospitalization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions. Med Care Res Rev 2006; 63: 719-741.
- 3. van Walraven C, Bennett C, Jennings A, et al. Proportion of hospital readmissions deemed avoidable: a systematic review. CMAJ 2011; 183: E391-E402.
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We acknowledge the NSW Institute of Rural Clinical Services and Teaching for funding.
No relevant disclosures.