Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions

ACSC-related hospital costs are economically important across Europe. ACSCs are diagnoses for which timely and effective outpatient care may reduce hospitalization risk. Ambulatory care sensitive conditions are conditions that can often be managed in outpatient care when timely and effective treatment, follow-up, and prevention are available. The article argues that the ACSC versus non-ACSC distinction is less useful among frail people. Appropriate ambulatory care can prevent some hospital admissions and emergency department visits for ACSC, although hospital care may still be necessary after some problems occur. Among frail individuals, unplanned hospital care may be needed even when the diagnosis is usually considered preventable through ambulatory care. The ACSC concept has been used internationally as a quality indicator for primary healthcare performance. Hospitalisations for ACSC are widely used to indicate access to and quality of primary care.