Keeping Children Out of Hospitals: Parents’ and Physicians’ Perspectives on How Pediatric Hospitalizations for Ambulatory Care-Sensitive Conditions Can Be Avoided

Abstract

The proportion of AHCs assessed as avoidable varies from 13% to 46%, depending on the source. Adolescents, children with asthma, children from working-poor families, and uninsured children are at greatest risk for avoidable hospitalizations. Many pediatric hospitalizations might be avoided if parents and children were better educated about the child's condition, medications, the need for follow-up care, and the importance of avoiding known disease triggers. Direct assessment by parents and physicians of hospitalized children can be an informative way to examine the proportion of avoidable pediatric hospitalizations and how they can be prevented.