• Govind Rangrass, Amir A Ghaferi, and Justin B Dimick.
• Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
• JAMA Surg. 2014 Mar 1; 149 (3): 223-7.

ImportanceRacial disparities in mortality rates after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery are well established. We have yet to fully understand how care at high-mortality, low-quality hospitals contributes to racial disparities in surgical outcomes.ObjectiveTo determine the effects of hospital quality on racial disparities in mortality rates after CABG surgery.Design, Setting, And ParticipantsThe national Medicare database (2007-2008) was used to identify 173,925 patients undergoing CABG surgery in US hospitals.Main Outcomes And MeasuresOur primary measure of quality was the risk-adjusted mortality rate for each hospital. Logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between race and mortality rates, accounting for patient characteristics, socioeconomic status, and hospital quality.ResultsNonwhite patients had 33% higher risk-adjusted mortality rates after CABG surgery than white patients (odds ratio [OR], 1.33; 95% CI, 1.23-1.45). In hospitals treating the highest proportion of nonwhite patients (>17.7%), the mortality was 4.8% in nonwhite and 3.8% in white patients. When assessed independently, differences in hospital quality explained 35% of the observed disparity in mortality rates (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.12-1.34). We were able to explain 53% of the observed disparity after adjusting for differences in socioeconomic status and hospital quality. However, even after these factors were taken into account, nonwhite patients had a 16% higher mortality (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.05-1.27).Conclusions And RelevanceHospital quality contributes significantly to racial disparities in outcomes after CABG surgery. However, a significant fraction of this racial disparity remains unexplained. Efforts to decrease racial disparities in health care should focus on underperforming centers of care treating disproportionately high numbers of nonwhite patients.

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