Hospitalization for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions: Concept, Identification and Policy Implications

• Published in: Zhongguo quanke yixue Vol. 27; no. 34; pp. 4234 - 4240
• Main Author: LU Shan, ZHANG Yan, WANG Jianjian, PAN Jay
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: Chinese General Practice Publishing House Co., Ltd 01.12.2024
• Subjects: ambulatory care sensitive conditions|hospitalization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions|preventable hospitalizations|ambulatory and emergency care|out-of-hospital services|primary health services
• ISSN: 1007-9572
• DOI: 10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2023.0011

The accessibility and quality of ambulatory care (including outpatient and emergency services in primary care facilities, hospitals and other healthcare facilities) determine the efficiency of overall health care system and population health. Ambulatory care is also the core component of continuing care in an aging society. The concept of ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) was firstly introduced by American researchers in 1990s. Since then, hospitalization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSHs) was widely used to evaluate the accessibility and quality of ambulatory care. In recent years, research on ACSH has gradually attracted the attention of scholars from all over the world, and preliminary research evidence from China indicated that the issue should not be ignored. This paper firstly introduces the origin of the concept of ACSH, then identifies the mixing concepts such as ACSH, avoidable hospitalization and inappropriate hospital admission, systematically summarizes the cutting-edge in