Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Role Of Community-Level Health Behaviors And Social Determinants Of Health In Preventable Hospitalizations, Elizabeth Ayangunna, Kingsley A. Kalu, Gulzar H. Shah

Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association

Background

Hospitalizations contribute significantly to the country’s health expenditures. There are factors in addition to clinical care that determines whether a community can prevent hospitalizations from certain medical conditions.

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain the role of community-level health behaviors and social determinants of health (SDoH) in preventable hospitalizations.

Methods

This study used secondary data from the 2021 County Health Rankings for 8 states in HHS Region 4--Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Tennessee. Descriptive analyses and multivariate linear regression were computed to examine the association between the dependent variable- preventable hospitalizations …

Differential Effects Of Race And Poverty On Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions, Farrukh B. Hakeem, Daniel L. Howard, Timothy S. Carey, Yhenneko J. Taylor

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

This study is a continuation of an earlier study that examined hospitalization rates for ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) conditions, as a proxy for quality of care, and found evidence of a racial disparity among African American and White Medicare beneficiaries. The current study sought to determine whether neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) explained this disparity. Differences in rates of ACS hospitalizations by race were assessed using Cochran-Mantel Haenszel tests and Poisson regression. Unadjusted rate ratios for ACS hospitalization for African Americans vs. Whites were found to be higher in low poverty areas (rate ratio (RR)=1.13; 95% CI (1.08, 1.17)) than in …

The Influence Of Federally Qualified Health Centers On Selected Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions In Georgia, Mary W. King Mathis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's Abstract: Ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) resulting in hospitalizations make up a substantial proportion of health care costs, but should not because these conditions are manageable in quality primary care settings that promote prevention in an effort to avoid exacerbations that can lead to hospitalization. The use of emergency departments (EDs) as a safety net for ACSCs has increased the burden on hospitals because patients who do not regularly utilize primary care often resort to the use of EDs for treatment of ACSCs. Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are designed to provide consistent, high-quality primary care to all people, …