Key findings: Potentially preventable hospitalisations by condition
Potentially preventable hospitalisations by condition
For the first time, national information at the local level is provided on five of the 22 conditions for which hospitalisation is considered to be potentially preventable. These are:
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Diabetes complications
- Heart failure
- Cellulitis
- Kidney and urinary tract infections (UTIs).
In 2013–14, these five conditions accounted for almost half (47%) of all potentially preventable hospitalisations and almost two-thirds (62%) of bed days for these admissions nationally (Figure 4).
Kidney and UTIs accounted for 12% (70,249) of all potentially preventable hospitalisations, followed by COPD (10%, 62,588), cellulitis (10%, 58,131), heart failure (9%, 53,168) and diabetes complications (7%, 40,829).
Some conditions require patients to be in hospital for longer. Heart failure patients accounted for the highest percentage of bed days for potentially preventable hospitalisations (15% of all potentially preventable hospitalisations, 360,769). This was followed by COPD (15%, 355,328), kidney and UTIs (12%, 272,889), cellulitis (11%, 250,554), and diabetes complications (9%, 222,429) .
Focusing on these five conditions may provide opportunities for PHNs to target efforts where the greatest improvements could be realised, in both reducing the number of hospitalisations for high volume acute conditions such as kidney and UTIs, and reducing the number of days patients spend in hospital for chronic conditions with longer lengths of stay such as heart failure and COPD.
Data for the other 17 conditions are available online at http://www.myhealthycommunities.gov.au
Figure 4: Percentage of potentially preventable hospitalisations* and bed days† by condition, Australia, 2013–14
| Conditions | Potentially preventable hospitalisations | Bed days |
|---|---|---|
| COPD | 10.4 % | 15.0 % |
| Diabetes complications | 6.8 % | 9.4 % |
| Heart failure | 8.9 % | 15.3 % |
| Cellulitis | 9.7 % | 10.6 % |
| Kidney and urinary tract infections (UTI) | 11.7 % | 11.5 % |
| Other | 52.5 % | 38.2 % |
| Total | 600,267 | 2,363,854 |
* Calculated as the number of potentially preventable hospitalisations for each condition as a percentage of all potentially preventable hospitalisations.
† Calculated as the number of bed days for potentially preventable hospitalisations for each condition as a percentage of all bed days for potentially preventable hospitalisations.
Notes: There are 22 conditions for which a hospitalisation is considered to be potentially preventable.
Hospitalisations from both public and private hospitals are included.
Bed days are the number of days an admitted patient is in hospital. A patient admitted and discharged on the same day is allocated one bed day.
More information and data can be found at http://www.myhealthycommunities.gov.au and in this report’s Technical Supplement.
Sources: National Health Performance Authority analysis of Admitted Patient Care National Minimum Data Set 2013–14, data supplied 24 March 2015, and Australian Bureau of Statistics Estimated Resident Population 30 June 2013.
Table 2: Percentage of potentially preventable (PPH) hospitalisations by condition, by Primary Health Network area, 2013–14
| PHN area | Number of PPH |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Other 17 conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEW SOUTH WALES | |||||||
| Central & Eastern Sydney | 28,566 | 9.3% | 5.8% | 9.4% | 10.4% | 13.1% | 52.1% |
| Hunter New England & Central Coast | 32,609 | 13.5% | 7.4% | 10.3% | 9.1% | 11.2% | 48.5% |
| Murrumbidgee | 10,193 | 14.7% | 6.6% | 10.9% | 7.8% | 13.4% | 46.6% |
| Nepean Blue Mountains | 7,948 | 12.3% | 6.6% | 8.5% | 7.6% | 12.9% | 52.1% |
| North Coast | 17,567 | 14.0% | 5.3% | 9.3% | 10.6% | 11.6% | 49.3% |
| Northern Sydney | 16,795 | 7.2% | 4.8% | 8.5% | 14.9% | 13.8% | 50.8% |
| South Eastern NSW | 15,756 | 14.4% | 7.1% | 11.0% | 10.9% | 10.9% | 45.6% |
| South Western Sydney | 21,127 | 9.9% | 6.6% | 8.5% | 9.3% | 11.3% | 54.4% |
| Western NSW | 9,682 | 15.5% | 6.5% | 9.5% | 10.7% | 9.8% | 48.0% |
| Western Sydney | 20,455 | 10.4% | 6.2% | 7.4% | 8.7% | 11.4% | 55.8% |
| VICTORIA | |||||||
| Eastern Melbourne | 32,385 | 8.4% | 6.5% | 10.1% | 7.8% | 10.9% | 56.3% |
| Gippsland | 7,496 | 12.4% | 7.4% | 10.2% | 10.4% | 9.7% | 49.8% |
| Western Victoria | 16,301 | 12.0% | 7.3% | 9.6% | 7.9% | 9.2% | 54.0% |
| Murray | 16,787 | 14.7% | 7.1% | 9.8% | 9.3% | 9.9% | 49.3% |
| North Western Melbourne | 33,049 | 8.5% | 7.7% | 10.2% | 7.1% | 10.4% | 56.2% |
| South Eastern Melbourne | 36,109 | 9.8% | 6.7% | 9.6% | 7.9% | 12.6% | 53.4% |
| QUEENSLAND | |||||||
| Brisbane North | 23,859 | 9.6% | 5.8% | 8.5% | 11.3% | 13.7% | 51.2% |
| Brisbane South | 27,620 | 9.1% | 6.1% | 8.3% | 10.1% | 13.5% | 53.0% |
| Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast | 26,883 | 10.9% | 6.2% | 8.0% | 10.6% | 12.8% | 51.5% |
| Darling Downs & West Moreton | 16,383 | 11.4% | 7.2% | 8.7% | 10.1% | 11.7% | 51.0% |
| Gold Coast | 16,170 | 9.7% | 7.2% | 7.4% | 10.0% | 14.2% | 51.5% |
| Northern Queensland | 20,077 | 9.7% | 7.8% | 6.6% | 15.4% | 11.9% | 48.6% |
| Western Queensland | 3,006 | 9.0% | 8.3% | 7.1% | 16.1% | 8.4% | 51.1% |
| SOUTH AUSTRALIA | |||||||
| Adelaide | 32,696 | 10.7% | 7.2% | 9.1% | 8.9% | 11.7% | 52.4% |
| Country SA | 15,922 | 11.3% | 7.8% | 8.4% | 9.0% | 9.7% | 53.9% |
| WESTERN AUSTRALIA | |||||||
| Country WA | 16,599 | 8.8% | 7.0% | 7.1% | 12.3% | 10.4% | 54.4% |
| Perth North | 23,833 | 7.2% | 7.6% | 8.4% | 6.5% | 12.4% | 57.9% |
| Perth South | 21,605 | 8.7% | 7.6% | 8.3% | 7.8% | 12.2% | 55.4% |
| TASMANIA | |||||||
| Tasmania | 12,812 | 12.0% | 8.6% | 9.2% | 9.2% | 8.8% | 52.1% |
| NORTHERN TERRITORY | |||||||
| Northern Territory | 10,000 | 8.8% | 6.1% | 5.1% | 13.1% | 7.4% | 59.5% |
| AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY | |||||||
| Australian Capital Territory | 6,736 | 9.8% | 6.4% | 7.7% | 9.2% | 14.4% | 52.4% |
| Australia | 600,267 | 10.4% | 6.8% | 8.9% | 9.7% | 11.7% | 52.5% |
Notes: There are 22 conditions for which a hospitalisation is considered potentially preventable. In this report, the five most prevalent conditions together contribute almost half of all potentially preventable hospitalisations and almost two-thirds of all bed days.
More information and data can be found at http://www.myhealthycommunities.gov.au and in this report’s Technical Supplement and Glossary.
Sources: National Health Performance Authority analysis of Admitted Patient Care National Minimum Data Set 2013–14, data supplied March 2015; and Australian Bureau of Statistics Estimated Resident Population 30 June 2013.