WEDNESDAY, Aug. 18, 2010 (HealthDay News) -- The Mountain states region of the United States had the lowest average rate of potentially avoidable hospitalization for heart failure in 2006, according to a U.S. government report released Wednesday.
The rate in this region, which includes Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, was 266 admissions per 100,000 people.
Potentially avoidable hospitalizations are admissions for care of chronic illnesses that could be prevented if patients had good quality outpatient care. Patients who receive poor quality outpatient care are at increased risk for complications that require hospitalization, explained the authors of the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The next lowest rate of potentially avoidable hospital admissions for heart failure was in the Pacific states (California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska), at 316.5 admissions per 100,000, according to the report. The other lowest rates were:
The report said the highest rates were in:
The report is based on data in the AHRQ State Snapshots, which provides state-specific health care quality information.
More information
The American Heart Association has more about heart failure.