AHRQ News And Numbers: Potentially Avoidable Hospitalizations For Heart Failure Lowest In Mountain States

The Mountain states region of the United States reported the lowest average rate of potentially avoidable hospitalizations for heart failure in the nation in 2006, at just 266 admissions per 100,000 population, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The states included in this region are Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.

The federal agency's analysis of regional potentially avoidable heart failure hospitalization rates found that the following regions had the next lowest rates:

- Pacific states (California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska) had the second-lowest average rate, at 316.5 admissions per 100,000 population.
- West North Central (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas), 362 per 100,000 population 
- New England (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine), 364 per 100,000 population

The regions with the highest rates were:

- East South Central region (Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky.) with a rate of 583 admissions per 100,000 population
- East North Central region (Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), 502 admissions per 100,000 population
- West South Central (Texas; Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana), 496 admissions per 100,000 population
- Southeast (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware)., 460 admissions per 100,000 population
- Mid-Atlantic (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania), 430 admissions per 100,000 population.

Potentially avoidable hospitalizations are admissions for inpatient care of chronic illnesses that could be averted if the patients had good quality outpatient care. Without such care, the risk of complications requiring hospitalization is greater.

This AHRQ News and Numbers is based on information in the AHRQ State Snapshots, which provide state-specific health care quality information, including strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. The goal is to help state officials and their public- and private-sector partners better understand health care quality and disparities in their state.

Source:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality