Dataset Information

Thirty-day readmission rates for Medicare beneficiaries by race and site of care.

ABSTRACT:

Context

Understanding whether and why there are racial disparities in readmissions has implications for efforts to reduce readmissions.

Objective

To determine whether black patients have higher odds of readmission than white patients and whether these disparities are related to where black patients receive care.

Design

Using national Medicare data, we examined 30-day readmissions after hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction (MI), congestive heart failure (CHF), and pneumonia. We categorized hospitals in the top decile of proportion of black patients as minority-serving. We determined the odds of readmission for black patients compared with white patients at minority-serving vs non-minority-serving hospitals.