Trends Among Rural and Urban Medicare Beneficiaries in Care Delivery and Outcomes for Acute Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attacks, 2008-2017.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Over the last decade or so, there have been substantial investments in the development of stroke systems of care to improve access and quality of care in rural communities. Whether these have narrowed rural-urban disparities in care is unclear.

Objective

To describe trends among rural and urban patients with acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack in the type of health care centers to which patients were admitted, what care was provided, and the outcomes patients experienced.

Design, setting, and participants

This descriptive observational study included 100% claims for beneficiaries of traditional fee-for-service Medicare from 2008 through 2017. All rural and urban areas in the US were included, defined by whether a beneficiary's residential zip

SUBMITTER: Wilcock AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7358912 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature