Medicaid heart failure patients hospitalized longer

Medicaid heart failure (HF) patients have longer hospital stays, according to a study published in the Journal of Healthcare Quality. University of North Carolina and Ohio State University researchers analyzed 1,300 HF patients, comparing their lengths of stay (LOS) to their socioeconomic status. Although patients from lower-income areas did not have longer LOS, Medicaid patients with comorbid illnesses had longer LOS than non-Medicaid patients, according to the study. "Data on out-of-hospital management of chronic diseases as well as HF severity are needed to further elucidate the mechanisms leading to longer LOS among subgroups of HF patients," researchers wrote. Study abstract