HEALTHReminders to parents could lower kids' hospital admissionsResearchers recommend greater attention to follow-up visits as one way to avoid some expensive and disruptive pediatric hospitalizations.By Susan J. Landers, amednews staff. Nov. 24, 2003. Washington -- More time spent by physicians educating the parents of young patients about managing their children's health problems at home could greatly reduce the number of pediatric hospital admissions that occur each year in the United States, according to a study in the November issue of Pediatrics. Estimates of avoidable hospitalizations for conditions such as asthma or gastroenteritis ranged from 12% to 46% depending on whether parents, primary care or hospital-based physicians were doing the assessing and whether or not all three agreed. Even a small decline in avoidable hospital stays could result in large savings for the nation's health care system as well as fewer disruptions in the lives of the children and their families. "Hospitalizations account for about 58% of what we spend on children's health care each year," said study author Glenn Flores, MD, director of community outcomes in the Dept. of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Madison. About 6.5 million hospitalizations for children occur annually in the United States at a cost of about $50 billion, he said. The study recommends actions that physicians and parents can take to whittle down those numbers. "Physicians sometimes don't take enough time to make sure that parents understand what they can do to prevent their children from being hospitalized," said Dr. Flores. "This may be due in part to increased time constraints placed on physicians by managed care." [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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