Hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions are commonly used to evaluate primary health care performance, as the hospital admission could be avoided if care was timely and adequate. Previous evidence indicates that avoidable hospitalizations carry a substantial direct financial burden in some countries. However, no attention has been given to the economic burden on society they represent. The aim of this study is to estimate the direct and lost productivity costs of avoidable hospital admissions in Portugal. Hospitalizations occurring in Portugal in 2015 were analyzed. Avoidable hospitalizations were defined and their associated costs and years of potential life lost were calculated. Direct costs were obtained using official hospitalization prices. For lost productivity, there were estimated costs for absenteeism and premature death. Costs were analyzed by components, by conditions and by variations on estimation parameters. The total estimated cost associated with avoidable hospital admissions was €250 million (€2515 per hospitalization), corresponding to 6% of the total budget of public hospitals in Portugal. These hospitalizations led to 109,641 years of potential life lost. Bacterial pneumonia, congestive heart failure and urinary tract infection accounted for 77% of the overall costs. Nearly 82% of avoidable hospitalizations were in patients aged 65 years or older, therefore did not account for the lost productivity costs. Nearly 84% of the total cost comes from the direct cost of the hospitalization. Lost productivity costs are estimated to be around €40 million. The age distribution of avoidable hospitalizations had a significant effect on costs components. Not only did hospital admissions have a substantial direct economic impact, they also imposed a considerable economic burden on society. Substantial financial resources could potentially be saved if the country reduced avoidable hospitalizations.

中文翻译：

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与可避免的住院次数相关的直接和生产力损失成本。

由于需要及时和适当的护理，可以避免住院，因此通常将因非卧床护理敏感病情而住院治疗，以评估主要的医疗保健绩效。先前的证据表明，在某些国家，可避免的住院治疗直接承担了沉重的经济负担。但是，没有关注它们所代表的社会的经济负担。这项研究的目的是估计葡萄牙可避免的住院治疗所造成的直接和生产力损失。分析了2015年葡萄牙发生的住院情况。确定了可避免的住院治疗，并计算了相关的住院费用和潜在生命损失年限。直接费用是使用官方住院价格获得的。对于生产力损失，估计存在旷工和过早死亡的成本。成本按组成部分，条件和估算参数的变化进行了分析。与可避免的住院次数相关的总估计成本为2.5亿欧元（每次住院2515欧元），占葡萄牙公立医院总预算的6％。这些住院治疗导致109,641年的潜在生命损失。细菌性肺炎，充血性心力衰竭和尿路感染占总费用的77％。可避免住院的近82％是在65岁或65岁以上的患者中，因此不能解决生产力损失的问题。总费用中将近84％来自住院的直接费用。生产力损失成本估计约为4000万欧元。可避免住院的年龄分布对费用构成有重大影响。住院不仅对经济产生直接的实质性影响，还给社会带来了巨大的经济负担。如果该国减少可避免的住院治疗，则有可能节省大量财政资源。