Washington State’s Office of Financial Management’s (OFM’s) Health Research Center recently released a research brief examining potentially preventable hospital readmissions by legislative district across the state. The report examines hospitalizations for 11 conditions that, in theory, would not have required inpatient care if the patients had had timely access to primary or secondary care services, such as vaccinations, antibiotics or regular physician office visits. Read the brief here.
Although the southwest sector of the state and the south Puget Sound region, in general, had high rates for these conditions, the 29th and the 27th legislative districts — which include Tacoma and those communities south to Lakewood — stand out. For nine of the 11 conditions assessed, the rates in the 29th were the highest in the state while the rates in the 27th were commonly second highest.
Districts in the northern Puget Sound region — which include Bellevue, Kirkland, Laurelhurst and Redmond — had the lowest rates. Rural districts in eastern and north central Washington also commonly had low rates; however, the 3rd district — which includes the city of Spokane — stood out because of its consistently high rates. (Tim Pfarr)
