Potentially preventable hospitalisations in Australia:

Variations by sociodemographic characteristics and geographic areas, with a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 2012/13 to 2014/15

Published: 2018

Potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPHs) are admissions to hospital that could potentially have been prevented through the application of appropriate preventative health measures and early disease management. They represent a range of conditions that can either be prevented from occurring or where hospitalisation can be avoided through provision of timely and effective primary care in settings which include general practitioners, medical specialists, dentists, nurses and allied health professionals. PPHs are used in Australia and internationally as a health system performance indicator. A PPH is identified based on the diagnosis recorded in hospitalisation data.

Hospitalisation data supplied by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) from the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD), on behalf of State and Territory health departments for 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 were analysed by age, sex, primary diagnosis, geographical classifications and Aboriginal Australian identity.

Authored by PHIDU

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