BACKGROUND: To achieve efficiency and high quality in health systems, the appropriate use of hospital services is essential. We identified 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 five 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 specific patient population or children were excluded. RESULTS: In total, 64 articles were included in the systematic review. Nine utilisation management methods were identified: care plan, case management, care coordination, utilisation review, clinical information system, physician profiling, consultation, education, and discharge planning. Primary case management was shown to effectively reduce emergency department use. Care coordination reduced 30-day post-discharge hospital readmission or emergency department visit rates. The pre-admission review program decreased elective admissions. The physician profiling, concurrent review, and discharge planning effectively 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 community-based health services and improving the quality of care by providing appropriate care at the right time and at the right level of care.