Percent of vulnerable populations receiving high-quality care

January 5, 2019

One of the largest groups of vulnerable populations in any parish are the elderly. Most people over 65 years old are enrolled in Medicare. When many Medicare enrollees are treated in hospital settings for conditions that could be treated in an outpatient setting, this suggests that this large vulnerable population may not be receiving high-quality primary health care, or that they are not able to access primary health care at all. It may also suggest hospitals are being overused as a main source of care.^[i] Preventable hospital stays are hospitalizations for conditions that could be treated in outpatient settings. Data reported here is prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has placed a unique strain on hospital capacity throughout the region.