Hospital Data
Key Hospitalization Findings
Updated Through 2008 Data
This page highlights the hospitalization inpatient and emergency room rates for the following Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSC) based on data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning Inpatient Hospital Data through 2008. Please note that the most recent data available is provided - data for a given year is available the following year so data will always be at least a year behind the current date. Emergency room rate data was analyzed for the first time in 2007, using 2005-2007 data
One of the goals of the web site is to monitor the top causes of hospitalization across the City and by zip code. It is well understood that many of these hospitalizations for chronic disease conditions such as these are preventable and the patients can be managed in a primary care setting. Appropriate chronic disease management helps to avoid hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and adverse health complications.
Methodology
Causes for hospitalization shown on this website are age-adjusted hospitalization cases per 1000. Age standardization allows comparisons across counties or by zip codes that differ in size or age composition. Hospitalization rates shown on this website are age-adjusted hospitalization rates per 1000 persons. The age-adjustment rate is calculated so that a region with a large population of elderly would be expected to have more hospitalizations due to heart failure and is not seen as having an excess rate of heart failure hospitalizations in that region. When calculating these rates, the goal is to understand the patterns of hospitalization that are due to factors other than age, i.e., given a similar age distribution.
Findings
The Building a Healthier San Francisco coalition is reviewing the recently updated hospitalization rate and newly added emergency room indicators and will post more findings as they become available.
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In general, for San Francisco as a whole, none of the ACSC is exceptionally high.
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However, it is notable that for two conditions, Hepatitis and Alcohol Abuse, the hospitalizations cases are greater that 50% of all California counties and the alcohol abuse rate has gone up and is high across almost all the neighborhoods in the City.
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Overall, between 2004 and 2007, rates for seven of the conditions have gone down or remained the same, with the exception of alcohol, short-term complications of diabetes, COPD and adult asthma, which have gone up.
It also is useful to examine these conditions by neighborhood. Through this view we find distinct and alarming rates (indicated by the gauge in RED ) appearing in specific neighborhoods.
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For example, the Tenderloin has the highest rates of hospitalizations and emergency room visits for most conditions, followed by Bayview Hunters Point, South of Market, Potrero Hill, Visitacion Valley , Mission , Castro, Twin Peaks , and the Marina .
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While still in the “red,” we also see some potentially positive trends with rates for adult asthma and asthma (including children) down in Bayview Hunters Point and the Tenderloin; rates for Hepatitis down in the Castro, Mission, and Tenderloin; rates for pneumonia down in Bayview Hunters Point and the Tenderloin; rates for dehydration down for all the neighborhoods in the red.
