| Background: To achieve efciency and high quality in health systems, the appropriate use of hospital services is
essential. We identifed the initiatives intended to manage adult hospital services and reduce unnecessary hospital
use among the general adult population.
Methods: We systematically reviewed studies published in English using fve databases (PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus,
Web of Science, and MEDLINE via Ovid). We only included studies that evaluated interventions aiming to reduce the
use of hospital services or emergency department, frequency of hospital admissions, length of hospital stay, or the
use of diagnostic tests in a general adult population. Studies reporting no relevant outcomes or focusing on a spe‑
cifc patient population or children were excluded.
Results: In total, 64 articles were included in the systematic review. Nine utilisation management methods were
identifed: care plan, case management, care coordination, utilisation review, clinical information system, physician
profling, consultation, education, and discharge planning. Primary case management was shown to efectively
reduce emergency department use. Care coordination reduced 30-day post-discharge hospital readmission or emer‑
gency department visit rates. The pre-admission review program decreased elective admissions. The physician profl‑
ing, concurrent review, and discharge planning efectively reduced the length of hospital stay. Twenty three studies
that evaluated costs, reported cost savings in the hospitals.
Conclusions: Utilisation management interventions can decrease hospital use by improving the use of communitybased health services and improving the quality of care by providing appropriate care at the right time and at the
right level of care. |