Avoidable Hospitalization among Migrants and Ethnic Minorities in Developed Economies

Abstract

Avoidable hospitalization (AH) relates to conditions for which hospital admission could be prevented by interventions in primary care. Such conditions, called Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSCs), have been used as a marker of accessibility and primary care effectiveness. A lack of high quality primary and preventive care can in fact result in an increased AH. There is evidence of differentials on the use of healthcare services between migrants and ethnic minorities living in developed economies and the autochthonous populations, which may in turn generate differentials in the health status. The aim of this chapter is to address the issue of primary healthcare and preventive health services access of migrants and ethnic minorities in developed economies, using hospitalization for ACSCs as an indicator.