health
Readmission rates higher for blacks than whites
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 21, 2011
Black Medicare patients hospitalized for certain serious conditions are more likely than whites to find themselves back in a hospital bed within 30 days of their discharge, a study shows.
Disparities in hospital readmissions are related to patient race and the hospital where the care is provided, said the study in the Feb. 16 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (link).
Researchers examined Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data on 3.16 million discharges for patients with acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure or pneumonia between Jan. 1, 2006, and Nov. 30, 2008. They found that black patients had 13% higher odds than whites of being readmitted within 30 days for all causes. Patients discharged from hospitals that treated the highest proportion of black patients had a 23% greater chance of being readmitted within 30 days compared with patients discharged from other hospitals, the study said.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/03/21/hlbf0321.htm.
