Potentially avoidable hospitalizations: how to estimate the costs? (French)

Based on the number of hospitalizations for ambulatory-care sensitive conditions in the Paris region (Ile-de-France), and the DRG-based rates for these hospital stays, we estimate the hospital expenditures that could be avoided if patients had access to primary care services that successfully manage their chronic conditions and avoid exacerbations that lead to necessary hospitalizations when they occur. In addition, we caution policymakers about what inferences can legitimately be drawn from such estimates for the expenditures averted on hospital care do not represent a net gain as there would likely be additional expenditures needed to upgrade ambulatory care to manage a host of complex chronic diseases.