Preventable Hospital Stays

Why it Matters: Unnecessary hospitalizations can be prevented with good outpatient care. Hospital stays for conditions such as adult asthma, bacterial pneumonia, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, low birth weight, urinary tract infection and other conditions can be reduced by strong outpatient care systems. This is a measure of discharge rates from hospitals for which early intervention may have prevented the complications that led to a hospital stay.