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BACKGROUND: Although disparities in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) participation are well documented, the role of community-level distress is poorly understood. This study evaluated the relationship between community-level distress and CR participation, access to CR facilities, and clinical outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on a 100% sample of Medicare beneficiaries undergoing inpatient coronary revascularization between July 2016 and December 2018. Community-level distress was defined using the Distressed Community Index quintile at the beneficiary zip code level, with the first and fifth quintiles representing prosperous and distressed communities, respectively. Outpatient claims were used to identify any CR use within 1 year of discharge. Beneficiary and CR facility zip codes were used to describe access to CR facilities. Adjusted logistic regression models evaluated the association between Distressed Community Index quintiles, CR use, and clinical outcomes, including one-year mortality, all-cause hospitalization, and acute myocardial infarction hospitalization. RESULTS: A total of 414 730 beneficiaries were identified, with 96 929 (23.4%) located in the first and 67 900 (16.4%) in the fifth quintiles, respectively. Any CR use was lower for beneficiaries in distressed compared with prosperous communities (26.0% versus 46.1%, P<0.001), which was significant after multivariable adjustment (odds ratio, 0.41 [95% CI, 0.40--0.42]). A total of 98 458 (23.7%) beneficiaries had a CR facility within their zip code, which increased from 16.3% in prosperous communities to 26.6% in distressed communities. Any CR use was associated with absolute reductions in mortality (--6.8% [95% CI, --7.0% to --6.7%]), all-cause hospitalization (--5.9% [95% CI, --6.3% to --5.6%]), and acute myocardial infarction hospitalization (--1.3% [95% CI, --1.5% to --1.1%]), which were similar across each Distressed Community Index quintiles. CONCLUSIONS: Although community-level distress was associated with lower CR participation, the clinical benefits were universally received. Addressing barriers to CR in distressed communities should be considered a significant priority to improve survival after coronary revascularization and reduce disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Skilled nursing facility (SNF) care is frequently used after cardiac surgery, but the patterns and determinants of use have not been well understood. The objective of this study was to evaluate determinants and outcomes associated with SNF use after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of Medicare Fee-For-Service claims linked to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons clinical data was conducted on isolated coronary artery bypass grafting patients without prior SNF use in Michigan between 2011 and 2019. Descriptive analysis evaluated the frequency, trends, and variation in SNF use across 33 Michigan hospitals. Multivariable mixed-effects regression was used to evaluate patient-level demographic and clinical determinants of SNF use and its effect on short- and long-term outcomes. RESULTS: In our sample of 8614 patients, the average age was 73.3 years, 70.5% were male, and 7.7% were listed as non- White race. An SNF was utilized by 1920 (22.3%) patients within 90 days of discharge and varied from 3.2% to 58.3% across the 33 hospitals. Patients using SNFs were more likely to be female, older, non-White, with more comorbidities, worse cardiovascular function, a perioperative morbidity, and longer hospital lengths of stay. Outcomes were significantly worse for SNF users, including more frequent 90-day readmissions and emergency department visits and less use of home health and rehabilitation services. SNF users had higher risk-adjusted hazard of mortality (hazard ratio, 1.41 [95% CI, 1.26--1.57]; P<0.001) compared with non-SNF users and had 2.7-percentage point higher 5-year mortality rate in a propensity-matched cohort of patients (18.1% versus 15.4%; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The use of SNF care after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting was frequent and variable across Michigan hospitals and associated with worse risk-adjusted outcomes. Standardization of criteria for SNF use may reduce variability among hospitals and ensure appropriateness of use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Health professional shortage areas (HPSAs) were created by the Health Resources and Services Administration to identify communities with a shortage of clinical providers. For medical conditions, these designations are associated with worse outcomes. However, far less is known about patients undergoing high-complexity surgical procedures, such as coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Background: The aim was to compare postoperative surgical outcomes of high-complexity surgery in beneficiaries living in HPSA versus non-HPSA designated areas. Methods: This study is a retrospective cohort review of Medicare beneficiaries who underwent CABG between 2014 and 2018. The authors compared risk-adjusted 30-day mortality, complication, reoperation, and readmission rates for beneficiaries living in a designated HPSA versus non-HPSA using a multivariable logistic regression model accounting for patient (eg, age, sex, comorbidities, surgery year) and hospital characteristics (eg, patient-to-nurse ratio, teaching status). Patient travel burden was measured based on the time and distance required to travel from the beneficiary's home zip code to the hospital zip code. Results: Of the 370,532 Medicare beneficiaries who underwent CABG, 30,881 (8.3%) lived in a HPSA. Beneficiaries in HPSAs were found to experience comparable 30-day mortality (3.50% vs. 3.65%, P <0.001), complication (32.67% vs. 33.54%, P <0.001), reoperation (1.58% vs. 1.66%, P <0.001), and readmission (14.72% vs. 14.86%, P <0.001) rates. Beneficiaries experienced greater mean travel times (91.2 vs. 64.0 minutes, P <0.001) and mean travel distances (85.0 vs. 59.3 miles, P <0.001). Conclusions: Medicare beneficiaries living in designated HPSA experienced comparable surgical outcomes after CABG surgery but a significantly greater travel burden. The greater travel burden experienced by patients living in designated shortage areas to obtain comparable surgical care for complex procedures demonstrates important tradeoffs between access and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Health literacy is associated with heart failure (HF) care and outcomes. Online resources offer important educational materials for patients seeking access to heart transplantation but tend to be complex and potentially ineffective for non-English speakers and those with low reading levels. The purpose of this study was to evaluate both the readability of patient-level information posted on United States heart transplant center websites and the availability of non-English resources.Methods and Results: We performed a review of patient-facing information on websites of U.S. heart transplant centers identified through the United Network for Organ Sharing in August 2022. Written English text was extracted and assessed for readability by using the Fry Graph Readability score. Websites were additionally evaluated for non-English language text and translator tools. Standard ANOVA analysis was used to compare readability levels across transplant regions. The median Fry readability level to understand a piece of text for all regions was 15, which is equivalent to a college-junior reading level (range: 7-17, 7th grade to postgraduate level). There was no statistical difference in median Fry readability levels among regions (P = 0.16). Of the 139 eligible heart transplant center websites, only 56.1% (78/139) had non-English resources available for patients. Regions 5 (75% [15/20]) and 6 (75% [3/4]) had the highest percentage of non-English resources, and region 2 had the lowest (38% [6/16]).Conclusions: Heart transplant center online resources are inadequate, and many do not provide translations of the English language. Additional work is needed to standardize heart-transplant patient information for a diverse U.S.Patient Population: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been little progress in reducing health care disparities since the 2003 landmark Institute of Medicine's report Unequal Treatment. Despite the higher burden of cardiovascular disease in underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, they have less access to cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons, and have higher rates of morbidity and mortality with cardiac surgical interventions. This review summarizes existing literature and highlights disparities in cardiovascular perioperative health care. We propose actionable solutions utilizing multidisciplinary perspectives from cardiology, cardiac surgery, cardiothoracic anesthesiology, critical care, medical ethics, and health disparity experts. Applying a health equity lens to multipronged interventions is necessary to eliminate the disparities in perioperative health care among patients undergoing cardiac surgery. [Display omitted] • Despite their higher cardiovascular disease burden, underrepresented racial and ethnic groups have less access to cardiovascular and cardiac surgical care, and worse postoperative outcomes. • Various factors, including racism and social determinants of health, contribute to perioperative health care disparities. • Applying a health equity lens to multipronged interventions may reduce disparities and improve cardiovascular outcomes among patients undergoing cardiac surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation leads to substantial and sustained improvement in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among patients. Infection following device implantation remains an important and frequent complication and adversely affects patient-reported HRQOL. Patients in The Society of Thoracic Surgeons' Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support receiving a primary LVAD between April 2012 to October 2016 were included. The primary exposure was one-year post-implant infection, characterized by: (1) any infection; (2) total number of infections and (3) type (LVAD-specific, LVAD-related, non-LVAD). The association between infection and the primary composite adverse outcome (defined as EuroQoL Visual Analog Scale< 65, too sick to complete the survey, or death at 1-year) was estimated using inverse probability weighting and Cox regression. The study cohort included 11,618 patients from 161 medical centers with 4,768 (41.0%) patients developing an infection, and 2,282 (19.6%) patients having> 1 infection during the follow up period. The adjusted odds ratio for the primary composite adverse outcome was 1.22 (95% CI, 1.19–1.24, p < 0.001) for each additional infection. Each additional infection was associated with a 3.49% greater probability of the primary composite outcome and was associated with worse performance across multiple dimensions of HRQOL as assessed by the EQ-5D for patients who survived to 1 year. For patients undergoing LVAD implantation, each additional infection within the first post-implantation year was associated with an incremental negative effect on survival free of impaired HRQOL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important outcome following durable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implant. However, half of pre-implant HRQOL data are incomplete in The Society of Thoracic Surgeons' Intermacs registry. Pre-implant HRQOL incompleteness may reflect patient status or hospital resources to capture HRQOL data. We hypothesized that pre-implant HRQOL incompleteness predicts 90 day outcomes and serves as a novel quality metric. Risk factors for pre-implant HRQOL (EQ-5D-5L visual analog scale; 12-item Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire "KCCQ") incompleteness were examined by stepwise logistic modeling. Direct standardization method was used to calculate adjusted incompleteness rates using a mixed effects logistic model. Hospitals were dichotomized as low or high based on median adjusted incompleteness rates. Andersen-Gill models were used to associate pre-implant HRQOL adjusted incompleteness rate with adverse events within 90 day post-implant. The study cohort included 14,063 patients receiving a primary LVAD (4/2012-8/2017). HRQOL incompleteness at high-rate hospitals was more often due to administrative reasons (risk difference, EQ-5D: 10.1%; KCCQ-12: 11.6%) and less likely due to patient reasons (risk difference, EQ-5D: -8.9%; KCCQ-12: -11.4%). A 10% increase in the adjusted pre-implant EQ-5D incompleteness rate was significantly associated with higher risk of infection-related mortality (HR: 1.09), infection (HR: 1.05), and renal dysfunction (HR: 1.03). A 10% increase in the adjusted pre-implant KCCQ-12 incompleteness rate was significantly associated with higher risk of infection (HR: 1.04). Hospital adjusted pre-implant HRQOL incompleteness was predictive of 90-day post-implant outcomes and may serve as a novel quality metric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]