Hospital Quality and Health Disparities

Study: Worst hospitals treat larger share of poor, By Carla K. Johnson (AP), October 5, 2011, Salt Lake Tribune: “The nation’s worst hospitals treat twice the proportion of elderly black patients and poor patients than the best hospitals, and their patients are more likely to die of heart attacks and pneumonia, new research shows. Now, these hospitals, mostly in the South, may be at higher risk of financial failure, too. That’s because the nation’s new health care law punishes bad care by withholding some money, says the lead author of the study published Wednesday in the journal Health Affairs…”