Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website to its version as of 12:00 AM on January 29, 2025. Information on this page may be modified and/or removed in the future subject to the terms of the court’s order and implemented consistent with applicable law. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from truth. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology due to the harms and divisiveness it causes. This page does not reflect reality and therefore the Administration and this Department reject it.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Hospital and Emergency Services

Goal: Prevent hospital visits and improve emergency department and hospital care.

Two paramedics wheel a person on a stretcher into a hospital.

Every year in the United States, there are about 36 million hospital stays.1 Healthy People 2030 focuses on reducing preventable hospital visits and improving hospital care, including follow-up services.

In the emergency department, timely care is critical for improving health outcomes. People staying in the hospital also need high-quality care to reduce their risk of having complications or developing infections. And many people need follow-up care once they leave the hospital.

Many hospital stays and emergency department visits are preventable. Strategies to connect people to a primary care provider, promote healthy behaviors, and create safe environments are key to reducing hospital visits.

Objective Status

  • 3 Target met or exceeded
  • 3 Improving
  • 7 Little or no detectable change
  • 3 Getting worse
  • 6 Baseline only
  • 15 Developmental
  • 0 Research

Learn more about objective types

Related Objectives

The following is a sample of objectives related to this topic. Some objectives may include population data.

Hospital and Emergency Services — General

Reduce emergency department visits for insulin overdoses — MPS‑D02
Developmental

Chronic Kidney Disease

Increase the proportion of people on Medicare who get follow-up care 3 months after kidney injury — CKD‑03
Improving

Dementias

Reduce the proportion of preventable hospitalizations in older adults with dementia — DIA‑02
Baseline only

Drug and Alcohol Use

Increase the proportion of people who get a referral for substance use treatment after an emergency department visit — SU‑D02
Developmental
Reduce the rate of opioid-related emergency department visits — SU‑D04
Developmental

Health Care Access and Quality

Reduce the proportion of people who can't get medical care when they need it — AHS‑04
Improving
Reduce the proportion of emergency department visits with a longer wait time than recommended — AHS‑09
Little or no detectable change

Health Care-Associated Infections

Reduce C. diff infections that people get in the hospital — HAI‑01
Target met or exceeded
Reduce MRSA bloodstream infections that people get in the hospital — HAI‑02
Improving

Health IT

Increase the proportion of hospitals with access to necessary electronic information — HC/HIT‑D06
Developmental
Increase the proportion of doctors who exchange and use outside electronic health information — HC/HIT‑D08
Developmental

Heart Disease and Stroke

Reduce heart failure hospitalizations in adults — HDS‑09
Getting worse
Increase the proportion of heart attack patients who get timely fibrinolytic therapy — HDS‑D01
Developmental
Increase the proportion of heart attack patients who get timely percutaneous intervention — HDS‑D02
Developmental
Increase the proportion of stroke patients who get IV reperfusion therapy within 3 hours of symptom onset — HDS‑D04
Developmental
Increase the proportion of people with strokes who get mechanical thrombectomy within 16 hours of symptom onset — HDS‑D06
Developmental

Infectious Disease

Reduce the rate of hospital admissions for urinary tract infections among older adults — OA‑07
Baseline only

Injury Prevention

Reduce emergency department visits for nonfatal injuries — IVP‑02
Little or no detectable change
Reduce emergency department visits for nonfatal unintentional injuries — IVP‑04
Little or no detectable change
Reduce emergency department visits for medication overdoses in children under 5 years — MPS‑01
Little or no detectable change
Reduce emergency department visits for oral anticoagulant overdoses — MPS‑D01
Developmental
Increase the proportion of medical-surgical hospitals that report adverse drug events — MPS‑D04
Developmental

Older Adults

Reduce the rate of emergency department visits due to falls among older adults — OA‑03
Baseline only
Reduce the rate of pressure ulcer-related hospital admissions among older adults — OA‑04
Baseline only
Reduce the rate of hospital admissions for diabetes among older adults — OA‑05
Baseline only

Pregnancy and Childbirth

Reduce severe maternal complications identified during delivery hospitalizations — MICH‑05
Getting worse
Reduce cesarean births among low-risk women with no prior births — MICH‑06
Getting worse

Respiratory Disease

Reduce emergency department visits for COPD in adults — RD‑06
Target met or exceeded
Reduce emergency department visits for children under 5 years with asthma — RD‑02
Little or no detectable change
Reduce emergency department visits for people aged 5 years and over with asthma — RD‑03
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the rate of hospital admissions for pneumonia among older adults — OA‑06
Baseline only
Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in children under 5 years — RD‑D01
Developmental
Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in people aged 5 to 64 years — RD‑D02
Developmental
Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in adults aged 65 years and over — RD‑D03
Developmental
Reduce hospitalizations for COPD — RD‑D04
Developmental

Violence Prevention

Reduce emergency department visits for nonfatal intentional self-harm injuries — IVP‑19
Little or no detectable change

Other topics you may be interested in

References

1.

Weiss, A.J., & Elixhauser, A. (2014). Overview of Hospital Stays in the United States, 2012. Retrieved from https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb180-Hospitalizations-United-States-2012.pdf [PDF - 209 KB]