New report shows high rates of preventable hospitalisations in Australia

A new report released today by the National Health Performance Authority, illustrates the high rates of potentially preventable hospitalisations in Australia.

Focusing on five key health areas that contribute most to potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH), including dental conditions, the report looks at the variation in rates across Primary Health Network (PHN) areas.

Nationally, the lowest PPH rate for dental conditions was in Central and Eastern Sydney PHN with 190 admissions per 100,000 people. The highest was in Western Qld PHN (443 per 100,000).

Western Vic had the highest rate of PPHs for dental conditions in Victoria with 377 per 100,000  - the equal third highest nationally.

The lowest in Victoria was in the South Eastern Melbourne PHN: 237 per 100,000.

Further information

• Source: Healthy Communities: Potentially preventable hospitalisations in 2013–14

• Explore your PHN area: Interactive data for dental conditions

• What is a PPH? "Potentially preventable hospitalisation": a hospital admission, which may have been prevented by timely access to adequate primary health care to prevent the condition, or that the condition once developed could have been better treated in the community.