HIGH HOSPITAL ADMISSION RATES AND INAPPROPRIATE CARE

This study tests whether the rate of inappropriate hospital admissions is high in areas with high medical admission rates. Seventy small geo graphic areas were formed by grouping Massachusetts ZIP codes by simil arity of hospital use, Appropriateness of hospital admission was measu red both by applying the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol and by ap plying physicians' judgment to the medical records of patients age six ty-five and older who were admitted for treatment of a medical conditi on in 1990-1992, No relationship between hospital admission rate and i nappropriate admission rate was found, which calls into question the c ommon assumption that areas with higher hospital use have more inappro priate use of hospital care.