Do Minority Patients Use Lower Quality Hospitals?

作者：Gaskin Darrell J^*; Spencer Christine S; Richard Patrick; Anderson Gerard; Powe Neil R; LaVeist Thomas A

来源：Inquiry-The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing, 2011, 48(3): 209-220.

DOI：10.5034/inquiryjrnl_48.03.06

Employing three years of inpatient discharge data from 11 states and inpatient and patient safety quality indicators from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), this paper explored whether minority (black, Hispanic, and Asian) patients used lower quality hospitals. We found that the association between the share of minority patients and hospital quality depended on how quality was measured and varied by race and ethnicity. Hospitals serving Hispanics performed well on most patient safety measures. Higher percentages of all three minority patient groups corresponded to lower quality for only one measure, postoperative sepsis. Our analysis indicates that it is incorrect to generalize that minorities use lower quality hospitals. Analysts and policymakers should he cautious when making generalizations about the overall service quality of hospitals that treat minority patients.

• 出版日期2011