body bg

Inform-Banner

The relationship between number of primary health care visits and hospitalisations: Evidence from linked clinic and hospital data for remote Indigenous Australians

  • Year: 2013
  • Author: Zhao, Yuejen; Wright, Jo; Guthridge, Steven; Lawton, Paul
  • Journal Name: BMC Health Services Research
  • Journal Number: 13
  • Publisher: BioMed Central
  • Published Location: London, United Kingdom
  • ISBN: 14726963

rimary health care (PHC) is widely regarded as essential for preventing and treating ill health. However, the evidence on whether improved PHC reduces hospitalisations has been mixed. This study examines the relationship between PHC and hospital inpatient care in a population with high health need, high rates of hospitalisation and relatively poor PHC access.

The results of this study demonstrate a U-shape relationship between PHC visits and hospitalisations. Under the conditions of remote Indigenous Australians, there may be an optimal level of PHC at which hospitalisations are at a minimum. The authors propose that the effectiveness of a health system may hinge on a refined balance, rather than a straight-line relationship between primary health care and tertiary care.

Related Items

Therapeutic landscapes: Understanding migration to Australian regional and rural communities

This article explores the connections between therapeutic landscapes, social capital and personal...

Accessibility of Essential Services in Urban and Regional Australia

The extent to which governments have an obligation to provide a core set of essential services to...

Changing patterns of migration to Australia's Northern Territory: Evidence of new forms of escalator migration to frontier regions?

Building on Fielding's idea of escalator regions as places where young people migrate (often...

Share this with your friends

Footer Logo

Contact Us

Level 2, 53 Blackall Street
Barton ACT 2600
AUSTRALIA
Telephone: 02 6260 3733
or email us