Continuity of Care and the Risk of Preventable Hospitalization in Older Adults

Abstract

Upward of $25 billion in annual health care spending in the United States is attributable to preventable hospitalizations, defined as admissions that potentially could be avoided with better treatment of acute conditions or management of chronic conditions in ambulatory care.¹ Preventable hospitalizations occur disproportionately in elderly patients,² particularly for the more than 80% of older adults with at least 1 chronic illness.³ The most common reason for preventable hospitalization in 2007, congestive heart failure (CHF), occurred at a rate of 14.3 per 10 000 for adults 45 to 64 years old but at a rate of 190.5 per 10 000 for adults 65 years or older.⁴