Study: Racial disparities persist even at highest-rated hospital systems

Even the highest-performing hospitals see racial health disparities in adverse patient safety events, according to a new report (Source: “Even At Top Hospitals, Racial Health Disparities in Patient Safety Are Steep,” Patient Engagement HIT, June 7).
 
The report from the Leapfrog Group and Urban Institute showing that, regardless of a hospital’s rating in the Leapfrog Group’s scorecard, white patients were less likely to experience an adverse patient safety event than their Black and Hispanic peers.
 
The consistency of health disparities across all hospital rating grades indicates that the Leapfrog Group reports “cannot be used to convey information on the underlying disparity in safe inpatient care,” the researchers said. That means patients who fall into the groups facing more adverse events may need additional tools to help with care access decision-making.