U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Hospital and Emergency Services

Goal: Prevent hospital visits and improve emergency department and hospital care.

Two paramedics wheel a person on a stretcher into a hospital.

Every year in the United States, there are about 36 million hospital stays.1 Healthy People 2030 focuses on reducing preventable hospital visits and improving hospital care, including follow-up services.

In the emergency department, timely care is critical for improving health outcomes. People staying in the hospital also need high-quality care to reduce their risk of having complications or developing infections. And many people need follow-up care once they leave the hospital.

Many hospital stays and emergency department visits are preventable. Strategies to connect people to a primary care provider, promote healthy behaviors, and create safe environments are key to reducing hospital visits.

Objective Status

  • 5 Target met or exceeded
  • 4 Improving
  • 5 Little or no detectable change
  • 2 Getting worse
  • 6 Baseline only
  • 15 Developmental
  • 0 Research

Learn more about objective types

Related Objectives

The following is a sample of objectives related to this topic. Some objectives may include population data.

Hospital and Emergency Services — General

Reduce emergency department visits for insulin overdoses — MPS‑D02
Developmental

Chronic Kidney Disease

Increase the proportion of people on Medicare who get follow-up care 3 months after kidney injury — CKD‑03
Improving

Dementias

Reduce the proportion of preventable hospitalizations in older adults with dementia — DIA‑02
Baseline only

Drug and Alcohol Use

Increase the proportion of people who get a referral for substance use treatment after an emergency department visit — SU‑D02
Developmental
Reduce the rate of opioid-related emergency department visits — SU‑D04
Developmental

Health Care Access and Quality

Reduce the proportion of people who can't get medical care when they need it — AHS‑04
Improving
Reduce the proportion of emergency department visits with a longer wait time than recommended — AHS‑09
Little or no detectable change

Health Care-Associated Infections

Reduce C. diff infections that people get in the hospital — HAI‑01
Target met or exceeded
Reduce MRSA bloodstream infections that people get in the hospital — HAI‑02
Improving

Health IT

Increase the proportion of hospitals with access to necessary electronic information — HC/HIT‑D06
Developmental
Increase the proportion of doctors who exchange and use outside electronic health information — HC/HIT‑D08
Developmental

Heart Disease and Stroke

Reduce heart failure hospitalizations in adults — HDS‑09
Improving
Increase the proportion of heart attack patients who get timely fibrinolytic therapy — HDS‑D01
Developmental
Increase the proportion of heart attack patients who get timely percutaneous intervention — HDS‑D02
Developmental
Increase the proportion of stroke patients who get IV reperfusion therapy within 3 hours of symptom onset — HDS‑D04
Developmental
Increase the proportion of people with strokes who get mechanical thrombectomy within 16 hours of symptom onset — HDS‑D06
Developmental

Infectious Disease

Reduce the rate of hospital admissions for urinary tract infections among older adults — OA‑07
Baseline only

Injury Prevention

Reduce emergency department visits for nonfatal injuries — IVP‑02
Target met or exceeded
Reduce emergency department visits for nonfatal unintentional injuries — IVP‑04
Target met or exceeded
Reduce emergency department visits for medication overdoses in children under 5 years — MPS‑01
Little or no detectable change
Reduce emergency department visits for oral anticoagulant overdoses — MPS‑D01
Developmental
Increase the proportion of medical-surgical hospitals that report adverse drug events — MPS‑D04
Developmental

Older Adults

Reduce the rate of emergency department visits due to falls among older adults — OA‑03
Baseline only
Reduce the rate of pressure ulcer-related hospital admissions among older adults — OA‑04
Baseline only
Reduce the rate of hospital admissions for diabetes among older adults — OA‑05
Baseline only

Pregnancy and Childbirth

Reduce severe maternal complications identified during delivery hospitalizations — MICH‑05
Getting worse
Reduce cesarean births among low-risk women with no prior births — MICH‑06
Getting worse

Respiratory Disease

Reduce emergency department visits for COPD in adults — RD‑06
Target met or exceeded
Reduce emergency department visits for children under 5 years with asthma — RD‑02
Little or no detectable change
Reduce emergency department visits for people aged 5 years and over with asthma — RD‑03
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the rate of hospital admissions for pneumonia among older adults — OA‑06
Baseline only
Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in children under 5 years — RD‑D01
Developmental
Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in people aged 5 to 64 years — RD‑D02
Developmental
Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in adults aged 65 years and over — RD‑D03
Developmental
Reduce hospitalizations for COPD — RD‑D04
Developmental

Violence Prevention

Reduce emergency department visits for nonfatal intentional self-harm injuries — IVP‑19
Little or no detectable change

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References

1.

Weiss, A.J., & Elixhauser, A. (2014). Overview of Hospital Stays in the United States, 2012. Retrieved from https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb180-Hospitalizations-United-States-2012.pdf [PDF - 209 KB]