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MONDAY, Dec. 16, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Rural Medicare beneficiaries with complex chronic conditions have higher preventable hospitalization and mortality rates than their urban peers, which is partially explained by reduced access to specialists, according to a report published in the December issue of Health Affairs<\/i>, a theme issue on rural health.<\/p>\n
Kenton J. Johnston, Ph.D., from St. Louis University, and colleagues examined a nationally representative survey of Medicare beneficiaries with one or more complex chronic conditions representing 61 and 57 percent of rural and urban Medicare beneficiaries, respectively.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that compared with urban residence, rural residence correlated with a 40 percent higher preventable hospitalization rate and a 23 percent higher mortality rate. After adjustment for having one or more primary care provider visits, having one or more specialist visits during the previous year correlated with a 15.9 and 16.6 percent lower preventable hospitalization rate and lower mortality rate, respectively, for individuals with chronic conditions. Overall, 55 and 40 percent of the rural-urban differences in preventable hospitalizations and mortality, respectively, were accounted for by access to specialists.<\/p>\n
“We found that access to care, particularly to specialists, explained a sizable portion of the difference in preventable hospitalization and mortality rates between rural and urban beneficiaries,” the authors write.<\/p>\n
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