Nela Vugdalic
Research Mentor(s): Elham Mahmoudi
Mentor Department: Family Medicine
Authors: Elham Mahmoudi, Kaustubh Singh, Nela Vugdalic
Session: Session 4 (1:00pm – 1:50pm)
Presentation Type: Poster 106
Abstract
Potentially Preventable Hospitalizations are hospitalizations experienced by individuals that could have been avoided if adequate and timely access to care had been readily available. In the United States, there are 7 million people with dementia, and this number is increasing to an estimated 13 million by 2050. PPHs cost $10 billion annually, correlate with higher mortality rates among those who experience one, and also correlate with decreasing rates of discharge back into their communities. Utilizing 2017–2018 Medicare claims data along with county- and zip code-level datasets, the study aims to examine the relationship between experiences of a PPH among traditional Medicare beneficiaries with dementia based on their race/ethnicity, neighborhood characteristics, and rurality. For our hypothesis, we predict that PPHs are experienced at higher rates among Blacks and Hispanics, individuals living in disadvantaged neighborhoods, and those living in rural areas. Utilizing collected data, analysis was performed for all participants, racial/ethnic minorities, disadvantaged neighborhoods, and rural areas. Preliminary findings indicate that one-third of the PPHs were preventable, Blacks and Hispanics experienced PPHs (at rates of 32% and 33%) more than White beneficiaries (being 30%), and that beneficiaries living in rural disadvantaged areas also had higher rates of PPHs. A reason for the high number of PPHs in these populations is that there is consistently a lack of readily available access to ambulatory care. To decrease the number of PPHs experienced by such community members, access to care, such as primary care providers and ambulatory care, should be readily accessible in these communities.
