Greater lack of healthcare access for rural Americans

A recent Reuters article describes findings in a new report published by the UnitedHealth Center for Health and Reform Modernization. The report found that those in rural areas faced greater rates of diabetes, heart problems and cancer, but received lower quality healthcare.

Breast cancer more lethal in black women

According to a recent Reuters article, breast cancer appears to be more lethal in Black women according to the results of a new study. Researchers had thought that obesity differences between Black and White women might explain the breast cancer survival difference between the two groups five years after the initial diagnosis (78% Blacks to 90% Whites). While this was not proven, researchers believe that differences in tumor biology as well as health care access could be at play.

Patients at Small, Rural Hospitals in U.S. More Likely to Receive Lower Quality of Care Compared With Other Hospitals

A recent release from the Harvard School of Public Health details a national study that showed that patients at small, isolated, rural hospitals had a lower quality of care and poor patient outcomes when compared to other hospitals. The study found that patients admitted to critical access hospitals in rural areas for a heart attack, congestive heart failure or pneumonia were at a greater risk of dying within 30 days than at other hospitals.

Read more here.

Podcast: Interview with Dr. Ronald Andersen

For this month's podcast, I interviewed Dr. Ronald Andersen who is the Wasserman Professor Emeritus of Health Services and Sociology at UCLA School of Public Health. This podcast provides an excellent overview of health disparity,the underserved, and issues associated with access to medical care.

You can listen to the podcast (WAV) here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/onlinefiles/Interviews/Andersen_Podcast_WAV.wav or as an MP3 here:https://s3.amazonaws.com/onlinefiles/Interviews/Andersen_Podcast_MP3.mp3

Dr. Andersen also provided other resources that may be of interest to podcast listeners:
1) The latest version of the Model:Ronald Andersen, Pamela Davidson, 2007 – Improving Access to Care in America: Individual and Contextual indicators in Ronald Andersen, Thomas Rice and Gerald Kominski (eds.) Changing the U.S.Health Care System: Key Issues in Health Services Policy and Management (3^rd. ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 3-31.

2) A review of national surveys of health services and origins of the Behavioral Model:
RM Andersen, 2008 -"National health surveys and the behavioral model of health services use." Medical Care, Jul;46(7):647-53

3) An online annotated bibliography on access to health care recently prepared for Oxford University Press: Ronald Andersen. “Access to Health Care.” In Oxford Bibliographies Online :Public Health. Ed. Lawrence Green. New York: Oxford University Press, February, 2011.

Study Finds Racial Disparity in Breast Cancer Outcomes

According to a Health Day article, researchers in North Carolina has found that African-American women had worse outcomes no matter what kind of breast cancer they developed, suggesting factors such as disparities in access to care and treatment may contribute to the higher level of mortality.