AHA Toolkit Addresses Prevention of Admissions for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions

​The American Hospital Association (AHA) has released a toolkit to help healthcare organizations reduce inpatient admissions for "ambulatory care sensitive conditions," such as asthma, low back pain, and uncomplicated pneumonia, that could otherwise be avoided with adequate primary care. The toolkit, which addresses barriers to preventing such conditions, including a shortage of primary care physicians, ineffective communication between primary care and subspecialist doctors, and a lack of patient engagement, is composed of three sections.