Insights in Public Health: Outpatient Care Gaps for Patients Hospitalized with Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions in Hawai'i: Beyond Access and Continuity of Care.

Ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) are conditions that can generally be managed in community-based healthcare settings, and, if managed well, should not require hospital admission. A 5-year, mixed methods study was recently concluded that (1) documented disparities in hospitalizations for ACSCs in Hawai'i through quantitative analysis of state-wide hospital discharge data; and (2) identified contributing factors for these hospitalizations through patient interviews. This Public Health Insights article provides deeper context for, and consideration of, a striking study finding: the differences between typical measures of access to care and the quality of patient/provider interactions as reported by study participants.

2017 Writing Contest Undergraduate Winner: Pathways to Preventable Hospitalizations for Filipino Patients with Diabetes and Heart Disease in Hawai'i.

Filipinos are one of the fastest growing Asian ethnic groups in the United States, yet little is known about how to specifically address the varying health needs of the Filipino community with diabetes and heart disease. This is a problem because rates of potentially preventable hospitalizations (PPH) are high for Filipinos with these conditions. A PPH is a hospitalization that could potentially have been avoided with better access to quality primary care.