Background: There is evidence that physicians consider a variety of “non-medical” factors (e.g. lack of social support, barriers to access) in hospital admission decision-making out of concern for patient safety, and that patients are hospitalized even in the absence of a level of medical acuity warranting admission. The rationale underlying this decision may overvalue the [...]

Background: Despite system-level focus on avoidance of potentially preventable hospitalizations, the decision to admit a patient with low medical acuity has been understudied. Our study sought to identify factors associated with admission versus discharge from the Emergency Department (ED) for patients considered unlikely to be medically appropriate for admission. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional [...]