Selected potentially preventable hospitalisations
Definition: Hospitalisations thought to have been avoidable if timely and adequate non-hospital care had been provided, either to prevent the condition occurring, or to prevent the hospitalisation for the condition. They are categorised as Vaccine preventable conditions (for example measles); Acute conditions (for example ear, nose and throat infections); and Chronic conditions (for example diabetes complications).
Interactive visualisation - Age standardised rates of selected potentially preventable hospitalisations, by Indigenous status and remoteness area of usual residence, 2015-16
Source: National Hospital Morbidity Database; Table S1.4.27.
- In 2015–16, there were an estimated 26.4 potentially preventable hospitalisations per 1,000 people; similar to the rate in 2007–08 (25.8 hospitalisations per 1,000 people).
- Overall, the selected potentially preventable hospitalisations in scope for this indicator accounted for approximately 6.4% of all hospital separations (8.3% in public hospitals and 3.6% in private hospitals).
- Indigenous Australians had a higher rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations than Other Australians (74 and 25 hospitalisations per 1,000 people, respectively).
- Overall, Acute conditions were the most common category of potentially preventable hospitalisations (13 hospitalisations per 1,000 people). However, among Indigenous Australians, the most common category of potentially preventable hospitalisations was Chronic conditions (36 hospitalisations per 1,000 people).
- Although Vaccine preventable conditions had the lowest rate of hospitalisations, the rate for Indigenous Australians was over 5 times the rate for Other Australians.
- The rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations increased with the remoteness of a persons’ usual residence. This effect was most pronounced for Indigenous Australians, with 116 hospitalisations per 1,000 people in Remote and Very remote areas, compared with 55 hospitalisations per 1,000 people in Major cities. The difference for Other Australians was relatively modest (25 hospitalisations per 1,000 people in Major cities and 27 hospitalisations per 1,000 people in Remote and Very remote areas).