Few Disparities in Baseline Laboratory Testing After the Diuretic or Digoxin Initiation by Medicare Fee-For-Service Beneficiaries.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Despite the persistence of significant disparities, few evaluations examine disparities in laboratory testing by race/ethnicity, age, sex, Medicaid eligibility, and number of chronic conditions for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries' newly prescribed medications. In Medicare beneficiaries initiating diuretics or digoxin, this study examined disparities in guideline-appropriate baseline laboratory testing and abnormal laboratory values.

Methods and results

To evaluate guideline-concordant testing for serum creatinine and serum potassium within 180 days before or 14 days after the index prescription fill date, we constructed retrospective cohorts from 10 states of 99 711 beneficiaries who had heart failure or hypertension initiating diuretic in 2011 and 8683 ben

SUBMITTER: Maciejewski ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5339025 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature