Racial disparities in readmissions for heart failure are mainly seen at the site at which care is provided, researchers report.
Using national Medicare data from 2006-07, researchers designated hospitals as "minority-serving" based on the proportion of black patients treated. In the study, 40 percent of all black patients and 5 percent of all white patients were cared for at minority-serving hospitals.
The researchers found:
- Overall, black patients had slightly higher 30-day readmission rates (24.1 percent) than white patients (23.3 percent).
- At minority-serving hospitals, black patients had slightly higher readmission rates than white patients (26.2 percent versus 25.1 percent).
- At non-minority-serving hospitals, there were no disparities in readmissions (23.3 percent versus 23.1percent).Heart failure is the most common cause of hospitalizations and readmissions in the Medicare program. Improving efforts at poor-performing, minority-serving hospitals could increase quality of care for all heart failure patients and reduce racial healthcare disparities, researchers said.
Source: American Heart Association