Science

Health Disparities Wider in Georgia

July 6th, 2012

Health disparities are wider here in Georgia compared to other states, according to a recent report.

Georgia ranks 38^th in the country in overall patient safety and quality of care. That’s according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s annual snapshot of hospitals.

Dr. Earnest Moy, one of the report’s researchers, says Georgia’s low-income population has it tougher than most.

“Everywhere in the nation you’re worse off if you live in a poor neighborhood than a high-income neighborhood,” said Moy. “But the actual difference – the actual gap – is larger in Georgia so being low-income has more of an effect in terms of not getting high quality care than in other parts of the country.”

The gap is especially acute when low-income individuals are hospitalized with diabetes; respiratory conditions like chronic pulmonary disease and pneumonia; or heart conditions such as hypertension and congestive heart failure.

Moy says there’s also a larger disparity for Medicaid and Medicare enrollees.

“For Georgia you do pretty good on the privately insured but the Medicare beneficiaries and the Medicaid recipients generally receive worse hospital care,” said Moy. “Medicare folks are more likely to die after they have bypass surgery, or when they’re hospitalized for congestive heart failure or after having angioplasty.”

Moy says many of the disparities stem from a lack of access to quality providers.

Meanwhile, the report did show a positive marker. Health disparities by race are smaller here in Georgia than in other states.