Tag Archives: health care disparities

Poor and Racial Minorities Have Worse Home Health Care Outcomes

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Karen Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH Washington University School of Medicine Saint Louis MO

Dr. Joynt-Maddox

Karen Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH
Washington University School of Medicine
Saint Louis MO

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Home health is one of the fastest-growing sectors in Medicare, and the setting of a new federal value-based payment program, yet little is known about disparities in clinical outcomes among Medicare beneficiaries receiving home health care.

We found that beneficiaries who were poor or Black had worse clinical outcomes in home health care than their peers. These individuals were generally more likely to have unplanned hospitalizations, readmissions, and emergency department visits. Under Home Health Value-Based Purchasing, these patterns should be tracked carefully to ensure the program helps close the gaps rather than widening them.

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Why Is It So Hard To Attract and Retain Rural Primary Care Physicians?

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Matthew R. McGrail, PhD Monash University School of Rural Health Churchill, Victoria Australia

Dr. McGrail

Matthew R. McGrail, PhD
Monash University
School of Rural Health
Churchill, Victoria Australia

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Rural populations continue to experience relative shortages of the supply of primary care physicians, with associated links to poorer health. Although considerable research has identified factors that facilitate or impede supply of physicians in rural areas, macro-level empirical evidence of observed rural mobility of physicians – notably, which are more likely to move and why – is limited.

Improved understanding of mobility and nonretention of rural physicians is important because of its impact on training and workforce policy, and resultant physician supply to both the origin area (ie, the location from which the physician moved) and to the destination area (ie, the location to which the physician has moved). The cost of mobility and staff turnover can be large, both in direct costs but also in terms of service quality and continuity to the community.

In our study, we aimed to describe the geographic mobility patterns of rural primary care physicians. This evidence will provide stronger understanding of the factors behind the observed mobility and nonretention of rural primary care physicians.

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