Today the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is expected to announce a $300 million initiative designed to reduce significant regional and ethnic care disparities across the U.S.--and ultimately, if successful, provide a model for healthcare reform. The study, which will be conducted by researchers at Dartmouth Medical School, will target 14 communities and regions across the country. One major goal of the project is to cut down on hospital admissions for certain conditions. For example, right now, states like West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi have high hospitalization rates for problems like poorly-controlled diabetes or worsening heart failure, exceeding 100 discharges per 1,000 beneficiaries. Also, blacks often get worse care than whites; in Memphis, black Medicare beneficiaries are almost six times as likely as whites to have a leg amputated due to vascular disease and diabetes.
To learn more about the initiative:
- read this Seattle Times piece
PLUS: Racial care disparities are widespread among patients with kidney disease, according to a new study. Article
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