Elderly Medicare patients at high risk for hospitalization for two common conditions--bacterial pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease--were more likely to stay out of the hospital if treated by experienced physicians, according to a report of a study by researchers at the Center for Studying Health System Change and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The report appears in the June issue of the journal Medical Care.
But patients of physicians reporting more difficulty accessing ancillary services for patients--for example, home oxygen or respiratory therapy--and physicians treating more poor patients were at higher risk of hospitalization for both conditions, the study found.
The article concludes, “making additional clinical resources available to subgroups of physicians who have less access to ancillary services and a high proportion of Medicaid patients may help reduce their patients’ risk of hospitalization from COPD and bacterial pneumonia.” Read the abstract.
