• Cristina Vellozzi-Averhoff, William W Thompson, Claudia Vellozzi, Ike Okosun, Kathy Kinlaw, and Jada Bussey-Jones.
• Emory University School of Medicine, 49 Jesse Hill Jr Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30303, United States. Electronic address: caverho@emory.edu.
• J Natl Med Assoc. 2021 Aug 1; 113 (4): 440-448.

ObjectiveTo determine whether the homeless population experiences disparities in care and communication during inpatient hospitalizations in a safety-net hospital.MethodsWe administered a modified Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey to 112 age-sex- and education matched homeless and non-homeless adults at a university-affiliated-safety-net hospital from December 2017 through March 2018 and performed a retrospective review of medical records. Linear regression models were used to assess differences in responses to survey subscales, length of stay and other measures.ResultsHomeless participants trended toward poorer ratings for all HCAHPS subscales, reaching significance for the Communication about Medications subscale, with a mean score 1.2 (95% CI 0.48-1.76) points lower compared to non-homeless sample. Length of stay was not significantly different between homeless and non-homeless participants.ConclusionIn an urban safety-net hospital, disparities in communications regarding medications between hospital staff and patients were found based on housing status.Copyright © 2021 National Medical Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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