Severity of Illness and Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions

This book studies hospitalizations for two chronic health conditions, diabetes and asthma, chronic conditions (ambulatory care sensitive conditions or ACSCs) that with proper access to primary medical care can be well-managed in ambulatory settings. Hospitalization for these conditions may indicate problems or deficiencies in that care. Geographically-based rates of hospitalization two common ACSCs, diabetes and asthma, are presented. Populations at increased risk of receiving inadequate disease prevention and promotion services for asthma and diabetes have been identified through a refined measure of ACSCs by including dimensions of severity of illness. The applicability of this measure has the potential to be widespread and easily used to develop public policy and refine financing mechanisms. As it relies upon the use of routinely generated administrative data, data collection efforts may be minimized. Conditions may be profiled for large and/or broadly defined populations. The additional component of GIS analysis allows for the display of patterns of care that are easily disseminated to different stakeholder groups.