Half of Medicaid Patients With Diabetes, Heart Failure Do Not Get Follow-Up

THURSDAY, June 8, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- More than half of Medicaid-covered adults with diabetes and heart failure in Alabama did not receive guideline-concordant postdischarge care, according to a study published online June 7 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Yulia Khodneva, M.D., from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues examined postdischarge ambulatory care follow-up of patients with comorbid diabetes and heart failure from a low-income population in primary and specialty care. Analysis included 9,859 adults with diabetes and first hospitalizations for heart failure covered by Alabama Medicaid (2010 to 2019).

The researchers found that 26.7 percent had an ambulatory visit within seven days, 15.2 percent within eight to 14 days, 31.3 percent within 15 to 60 days, and 26.8 percent had no visit. Overall, 71 percent saw a primary care physician and 12 percent saw a cardiology physician. Any postdischarge ambulatory visits were less likely among Black and Hispanic/other adults. Furthermore, compared to non-Hispanic White patients, Black and Hispanic/other adults were more likely to have a delayed visit (by 1.8 days and by 2.8 days, respectively) and less likely to see a primary care physician (adjusted incidence rate ratios [95 percent confidence intervals], 0.96 [0.91 to 1.00] and 0.91 [0.89 to 0.98], respectively).

"Hopefully, this study will trigger additional, more in-depth studies that may help to explain the reasons for these observed racial disparities and help in the development of interventions to promote prompt follow-up for these patients," Khodneva said in a statement.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text