Preventing hospital admissions – What are the best ways to reduce them?

Image of busy hospital waiting room to reduce admissions

Reducing hospital admissions – Why do admission rates need to be reduced?

Reducing admissions rates is often a continuous goal to enable healthcare professionals to deliver better outcomes and higher quality care.

Over the last four years, there have been huge differences in hospital admission rates. For example during the peak of the pandemic hospital admissions were dramatically on the rise across the country but more emergency admissions and unnecessary admissions were reduced.

Now, four years later, we can see that the pattern has flipped again, with over 1.9 million patients visiting A and E in 2023, nearly a 5% increase since 2022. It is clear that overall admissions are starting to rise again, waiting lists and waiting for beds and ambulances are getting longer, and this, in turn, is causing major discharge delays putting patients at more risk of readmission.

Rising admissions rates therefore can have multiple impacts not just on the individual receiving care, but their families, and both the healthcare and social care system as a whole. It is important therefore both health and social care providers work together to find new and innovative ways to help reduce admissions, improve the quality of care, and prevent burnout.

What are the impacts of rising hospital admissions?

As discussed above, hospital admissions rising and A and E attendance increasing causes multiple impacts across the health and social care market. Below is a table of some of the most influential impacts on individuals and their loved ones, the healthcare system, and the social care system.

	Individuals and their loved ones	Healthcare system	Social Care System
Impacts of rising hospital admissions	Extended hospital stays can impact both physical and mental health Extended hospital stays can lead to disruption of daily life, loved ones will need to rearrange schedules to support care for the patient	Increasing demand can put a strain on capacity Longer waiting times for ambulances, beds, treatments, and delays in discharge Increasing demand increases healthcare costs as more resources are needed but budgets are stretched Rapid increases in demand increase the risk of quality of care provided Increased risks of overcrowding Increased risk of staff burnout	An increase in hospital admissions can lead to an increased demand for social care services – particularly home care and care homes Increased pressure on resources Increase risk of poor communication and transitions between health and social care

It's clear there are a lot of negative impacts and increased risks for everyone across the wider care circle when hospital admissions increase. By addressing the causes of the admissions rising, a better focus on delivering preventative and proactive care can be achieved to address the wider social determinants of health and prevent unnecessary admissions.

Preventable hospital admissions – What causes them to rise?

an image to show healthcare professionals working together to prevent hospital admissions

To be able to reduce admissions successfully, you need to look at why patients are being admitted and how and in what ways could those admissions be avoided. Several factors can contribute to the rise of hospital admissions, by addressing these causes more tailored support can be provided to allow patients to be more independent and for health and social care professionals to be more strategic with their resources to better manage workloads.

Below is a list of some of the main causes why hospital admissions including unnecessary ones rise:

Lack of primary care access or long waiting times for primary care – limited access to primary care services can lead to patients seeking medical attention and help in hospitals for conditions that could be managed by the GP or in an outpatient setting
Overusing A and E departments – due to lack of access or lack of awareness of alternative care options many patients use A and E departments for non-emergency issues
Poor communication between healthcare providers – poor communication between healthcare providers leads to fragmentations and inconsistencies in the quality of care delivered resulting in disjointed care, unnecessary tests, procedures, and ultimately hospitalisations
Socioeconomic factors – socioeconomic factors including poverty and inadequate access to healthcare can also lead to a rise in severe health issues which in turn increase admissions

These are just some examples of reasons why hospital admissions can increase. Addressing these factors requires a multifaceted approach involving improved access to primary care, better coordination among healthcare providers, and better patient education to address health inequalities and the wider determinants of health to reduce hospital admissions.

Preventing hospital admissions – What are the most common unnecessary admissions?

Preventable hospital admissions, also sometimes known as avoidable hospitalisations, often occur from conditions and situations that could have been better managed at home, with GPs, or in outpatient settings. Some of the most common unnecessary hospital admissions include:

1. Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSCs)

These are conditions in which both GP treatments or outpatient appointments can prevent the need for hospitalisation and allow treatment to take place at home. Some of these include the management of chronic or long-term diseases such as asthma or diabetes, urinary tract infections, dehydration, and hypertension.

2. Medication-related issues

Another common unnecessary admission includes medication-related issues such as medication errors or adverse medical reactions to prescription drugs. These could be easily addressed through better medication management and patient education.

3. Chronic disease management

As our aging population continues to grow more and more individuals are living with more than one long-term condition. Poor chronic disease management for conditions such as diabetes and kidney disease can lead to acute exacerbations or complications resulting in hospitalisation.

Effective management systems which both individuals and their loved ones understand are needed to help prevent such admissions.

4. Fall-related injuries

Falls among older adults do tend to be more common and can lead to serious injuries including fractures, head trauma, and internal bleeding.

Preventative measures can be put in place to reduce fall risks and the number of hospital visits needed. Home safety evaluations and installations of mobile aids can help reduce the risk of hospital admissions relating to falls.

How to reduce hospital admissions?

One of the best ways to reduce hospital admissions is through using a population health management approach, that way you can use data to identify the most at-risk groups to facilitate care and support to prevent unnecessary visits as well as offer early intervention support. This, in turn, also enables individuals to be more proactive in managing their health and wellbeing and empowers more vulnerable populations to live more independently for longer.

1. Create strong multi-disciplinary teams

an image to show how strong multi-disciplinary teams reduce hospital admissions

Fostering a sense of collaboration and communication among health and social care professionals, commissioners, and providers helps develop better integrated care pathways that address the root causes of unnecessary hospital admissions.

This way more vulnerable populations can have better targeted person-centred care delivered to offer more preventative ways to better manage both their physical and mental health, which in turn will reduce their dependency on health and social care professionals.

Having stronger multi-disciplinary teams also allows better organisations of resources and budgets across the market to ensure every individual gets the support they need whilst enabling them to reach their independent living goals.

2. Address social determinants of health

image of a carer looking after a woman in bed to show how addressing the determinants reduces hospital admissions

Another key way to reduce hospital admissions and re-admissions is through addressing the wider social determinants of health. Addressing these wider determinants of health including poverty, housing instability, food insecurity, and a lack of access to adequate transport and healthcare helps better facilitate individuals in a community to ultimately improve overall health outcomes.

Currently, 1 in 5 GP appointments are for social, non-clinical reasons, through addressing the wider social determinants of health individuals can have root causes for declines in their mental and physical health addressed to be better support and manage the social determinants of health they could be dealing with more effectively with the right support being provided straight away.

Social prescribing is one example of how social determinants of health can be better addressed. Here through using population health primary care professionals can identify more at risk patients and refer them to a Social Prescribing Link Worker to co-produce a social prescription that best caters to their needs and allow them to stay away from the hospital for longer.

Access Elemental Social Prescribing makes addressing the wider determinants of health easier by offering two-way integrations with leading clinical systems including SystmOne and EMIS Web to store all individuals’ reasons for referral in one central place. Both Link Workers and GPs then have access to add any notes needed so patients can always be referred to services that matter to them to improve both their physical and mental wellbeing for the future.

3. Promote more preventative care

An image of a man using a telecare watch to promote preventative care as a way to reduce admissions

As discussed previously, moving towards more enhanced preventative care approaches helps individuals stay independent for longer and reduce their dependency on health professionals.

It also enables individuals to have better patient education to empower individuals to take an active tole in managing their health to reduce the likelihood of requiring hospitals by being able to identify signs before something more serious happens to get the support needed.

4. Enhance primary care access

an image of a woman holding walking stick and a carer's hand to show how enhancing primary care access reduces admissions

One of the reasons admissions rise is due to the lack of primary care access. Therefore by enhancing that access and offering more opportunities for individuals to seek the medical advice they need more severe declines in health can be avoided as well as hospitalisations.

Some examples could include expanding clinic hours to allow full-time workers earlier or later appointments, offering telehealth options to allow patients to attend virtual visits, as well as offering more at homecare support through the use of telemedicine and telecare devices.

Providing telecare devices allows more at-risk patients and patients living with long-term conditions, sometimes multiple, the option to carry on living independently without any risk. These telecare and technology enabled care devices enable individuals to better manage their condition/s at home knowing early interventions will take place before something more critical takes place.

Access Technology Enabled Care goes one step further by offering the opportunity for smart alerts to be created so loved ones and carers can be notified specifically of any behaviour changes to ensure the individual gets the best support possible. This helps prevent hospital admissions as they can be notified straight away allowing health and social care professionals to turn data into actionable insights immediately giving both individuals and their loved ones confidence and reassurance timely support will always be provided whenever it is needed.

Preventing unnecessary hospital admissions – What are the best ways to do it?

Preventing unavoidable hospital admissions requires a proactive approach to better manage an individual’s health, minimise complications, and consistently provide timely and high-quality care.

Proactively making a plan that addresses the key causes for hospital admissions can increase independence and confidence in individuals, provide reassurance to loved ones, and help health and social care professionals better manage their workloads and resources to always deliver person-centred care that concentrates on improving health outcomes and preventing admissions to hospital for a better quality of life.

1. Disease Management Programs

image to show how disease management programs like blood pressure checks can reduce admissions

One of the ways hospital admissions can be reduced is through implementing disease management programs to provide better education, support, and monitoring to help individuals better manage their conditions and symptoms to prevent extreme declines in health and the need to go to the hospital.

2. Medication Management

image to show how medication management reduces hospital admissions

Better medication management services help to ensure that individuals are taking their medications as prescribed, avoiding drug interactions, and managing side effects effectively. These can include sending text reminders for medication reviews and when to take their medication.

3. Home-based care options

image to show how homecare helps reduce admissions

Expanding access to homecare options such as home health services, telehealth, and telecare services allows individuals to receive the medical care and support they need in the comfort of their own homes, reducing the need for hospitalisation.

4. Advance care planning

Image to show how advance care planning reduces admissions

Another way hospital admissions can be reduced is through improving care planning to deliver better person-centred care. This, in turn, promotes ongoing communications with individuals, their families, and healthcare providers for better timely interventions and preventative measures to help manage medical conditions effectively in home-based settings and reduce the need for hospital admissions.

5. Social Prescribing

Image to show how social prescribing can help reduce admissions

Social prescribing can reduce hospital admissions by addressing the underlying social determinants of health to connect individuals with the non-medical support they need within the community.

Healthy Options, a social prescribing service based in Scotland, found that after receiving social prescribing support they had a 26% reduction in A and E attendance in the first year after investing in our digital social prescribing software.

Here the process of a social prescribing journey therefore shows that patients can be linked with resources and support groups to address what matters to them to improve their overall wellbeing, and ultimately reduce A and E attendance. This, in turn, can help prevent health conditions from worsening, increase and empower individuals to better manage their health, and reduce hospitalisations.

6. Establishing hospitals at home

image to show how hospitals at home and virtual wards reduce admissions

Establishing hospitals at home or virtual wards can reduce hospital admissions by providing an alternative care model for patients who would traditionally require hospitalisation.

Through using virtual wards, better care coordination and engagement can take place so teams can be better coordinated to manage conditions more effectively. Virtual Wards also allow more timely interventions through various technology solutions including technology enabled care to address issues promptly at home to prevent deterioration and hospital admissions.

Virtual wards and hospitals at home more specifically also help prevent re-admissions by reducing hospital discharge delays and make the transition from hospital to home safer and more controlled so symptoms and recovery can be better managed to prevent complications and promote recovery at home.

Reducing hospital admissions and readmissions - How can technology help?

This article has reviewed the causes of hospital admissions and why they are rising, as well as some of the most common preventable hospital admissions.

By explaining the causes of hospital admissions rising this article has also reviewed different models and methods to reduce both hospital admissions and re-admissions to improve health outcomes and reduce the dependency on health and social care services to empower individuals to better manage their own health and wellbeing.

Analysing these different strategies has made it clear that one way to ensure admissions reduce is through digitally transforming processes to enable better care coordination and communication.

At The Access Group we offer a variety of Local Government Software to help commissioners and providers use better outcomes-based commissioning to improve the quality of care delivered to ensure individuals can stay at home for longer.

Investing in digital social prescribing for example can help identify the root causes for a decline in someone’s mental health to help them be directed to better-targeted support to reduce dependency on GPs and A and E departments.

Investing in Access Technology Enabled Care enables data to be turned into actionable insights so caregivers and loved ones can be notified of changes before something more critical takes place so individuals can remain living independently for longer without the need to go to the hospital or move into a care home. Equally by delivering better timely support individuals and loved ones can be left feeling confident and reassured that support will always be there whenever and wherever they need it, even if their care needs change.

Finally, investing and exploring how virtual wards can not only reduce preventable hospital admissions but readmissions too so individuals can recover and manage chronic diseases better in the comfort of their own homes, as well as enable health and social care professionals access to the information they need to deliver safer and higher quality care without risks of complications and the need to go to hospital.

It is clear therefore there are many ways hospital admissions can be reduced and avoided, however, until you understand the reasons and causes for the rise in admissions you can never successfully reduce the rate.

Discover our local government software today to see first-hand how we can help your local authority develop a stronger co-production approach to strategically commission the help and support needed to reduce admissions both now and in the future.

Contact us today and we can show you how digital transformations in health and social care can benefit everyone within the wider care circle from the individual to the health or social care professional themselves.