Work

Investigating racial and ethnic disparities in interhospital transfer within an academic integrated healthcare system: A matched cohort study

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: The presence of racial and ethnic disparities in interhospital transfer (IHT) within integrated healthcare systems has not been fully explored. We matched Black and Latinx patients admitted to community hospitals in our integrated healthcare system between June 2015 and December 2019 to White patients by origin hospital, age, time of year, and disease severity. We performed conditional logistic regression models to determine if race or ethnicity was associated with IHT in one of the tertiary academic medical centers in the system, adjusting for covariates. The sample contained 107,895 admissions (82.6% White, 7.8% Black, and 9.6% Latinx). Transfer rates were 2.2% versus 2.2% after the Black/White match and 1.8% versus 1.8% after the Latinx/White match. After adjusting for covariates, there was no association between race or ethnicity and IHT (Black vs. White odds ratio [OR]: 0.87, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.72-1.07; Latinx vs. White OR: 1.05, 95% CI: 0.79-1.40). This may be due to reduced barriers to transfer with an integrated healthcare system.

Source: Journal of Hospital Medicine

DOI: 10.1002/jhm.13306

Authors: Evan Michael Shannon, Julie Fiskio, Catherine Yoon, Jeffrey L. Schnipper, Stephanie K. Mueller

Institutions: University of California, Los Angeles, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Mass General Brigham, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University

Language: English

Topic: Hospital Admissions and Outcomes

Subfield: Emergency Medicine

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,240