Article
Neurosciences
Caroline Pearson, Alex Hartzman, Dianne Munevar, Megan Feeney, Rachel Dolhun, Veronica Todaro, Sheera Rosenfeld, Allison Willis, James C. Beck
Summary: It is important to understand how people with Parkinson's disease (PD) in the US utilize the healthcare system. A study analyzed the healthcare utilization patterns of PD patients enrolled in Medicare in 2019 and found significant disparities in care. Many patients did not see a neurologist or receive recommended therapy services, indicating the need for further research on barriers to accessing PD-related health care.
NPJ PARKINSONS DISEASE
(2023)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Natalia Ramirez, Kewei Shi, K. Robin Yabroff, Xuesong Han, Stacey A. Fedewa, Leticia M. Nogueira
Summary: This study investigates the association between limited English proficiency (LEP) and access to healthcare in adults. The results show that adults with LEP have worse access to care and are more likely to be overdue for preventive services compared to those without LEP. System-level interventions can improve equity in access to care for adults with LEP.
JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Charlie M. Wray, Lenny Lopez, Meena Khare, Salomeh Keyhani
Summary: Cost-related access barriers, medical debt, and dissatisfaction with care are common among privately insured individuals, particularly those with poor health status.
JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
David H. Sommerfeld, Elise Trott Jaramillo, Erik Lujan, Emily Haozous, Cathleen E. Willging
Summary: The study explored factors influencing health care use among American Indian elders through concept mapping, revealing the need for actions across multiple domains to improve their access and utilization of health care. This includes health system navigation services, workforce improvements, and tribal, state, and federal policy changes.
JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY SERIES B-PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Callie Hlavin, Phoebe Ingraham, Tamara Byrd, Nathan Hyre, Lucine Gabriel, Nishant Agrawal, Laura Allen, Tanya Kenkre, Andrew Watson, Murat Kaynar, Bestoun Ahmed, Anita Courcoulas
Summary: Telemedicine can be used safely and effectively for bariatric surgical preoperative care, as the clinical outcomes are comparable to traditional in-person care.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Omar H. Ordaz, Raina L. Croff, LaTroy D. Robinson, Steven A. Shea, Nicole P. Bowles
Summary: Contrary to previous reports, Black American patients in this study generally accepted patient portals as tools for personalized care and reducing unfair disease burden in primary care. Increased communication, experience, and adoption of remote health care practices among Black Americans will lead to better health care opportunities.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Haipeng Wang, Xingxing Hua, Nengliang Yao, Nan Zhang, Jialin Wang, Roger Anderson, Xiaojie Sun
Summary: This study examined the disparities in health care utilization among cancer patients in urban and rural areas of China. The results showed that rural cancer patients had lower health care utilization compared to urban patients, indicating a need for improved resource allocation and attention to disadvantaged groups and rural cancer patients.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Nauzley C. Abedini, Lois Downey, Ruth A. Engelberg, J. Randall Curtis, Rashmi K. Sharma
Summary: Older adults with serious illness and limited English proficiency have higher rates of end-of-life healthcare utilization compared to those without limited English proficiency. Further research is needed to identify the causes of these differences and develop linguistically- and culturally-appropriate interventions to improve end-of-life care in this population.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Chinedum O. Ojinnaka, Meg Bruening
Summary: Black cancer survivors are more likely to report very low food security compared to White survivors and are less likely to visit a medical specialist or report good health. There is a dose-response relationship between food security status and health care utilization, as well as self-reported health status among cancer survivors.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Aakash Bipin Gandhi, Eberechukwu Onukwugha, Husam Albarmawi, Abree Johnson, Daniela E. Myers, David Gray, Jose Alvir, Lauren Hynicka, Lisa M. Shulman
Summary: This study compared health care resource utilization between Medicare beneficiaries with and without Parkinson's disease over a 10-year period, finding that beneficiaries with PD had higher rates of inpatient admissions, emergency department visits, skilled nursing facility admissions, healthcare provider encounters, neurologist visits, rehabilitation service visits, and non-PD medication fills compared to those without PD. The results provide evidence for the allocation of healthcare resources for PD management.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Jessica Himmelstein, Christopher Cai, David U. Himmelstein, Steffie Woolhandler, David H. Bor, Samuel L. Dickman, Danny McCormick
Summary: People with limited English proficiency (LEP) face barriers in accessing medical care. This study compares outpatient visit rates in 28 specialties between LEP and English-proficient (EP) individuals and finds that patients with LEP are underrepresented in most outpatient specialty practices, particularly in medical subspecialties and surgical specialties. These findings highlight the importance of removing language barriers.
JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Review
Neurosciences
Joana E. Andoh, Agnes C. Ezekwesili, Kristen Nwanyanwu, Angela Elam
Summary: This narrative review summarizes the literature on factors related to eye care access and utilization in the United States. Using the Healthy People 2030 framework, this review investigates social determinants of health associated with general and follow-up engagement, screenings, diagnostic visits, treatment, technology, and teleophthalmology. We provide hypotheses for these documented eye care disparities, featuring qualitative, patient-centered research. Lastly, we provide recommendations in the hopes of appropriately eliminating these disparities and reimagining eye care.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF VISION SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Janeth I. Sanchez, Veena Shankaran, Joseph M. Unger, Margaret M. Madeleine, Subodh R. Selukar, Beti Thompson
Summary: The study found that Black and Hispanic patients had lower odds of receiving colonoscopy compared to non-Hispanic Whites, and Whites with Medicaid coverage had lower odds of receiving colonoscopy compared to Whites without Medicaid coverage. Hispanics in high-income neighborhoods also had lower odds of receiving colonoscopy.
Article
Ophthalmology
Omar A. Halawa, Ajay Kolli, Gahee Oh, William G. Mitchell, Robert J. Glynn, Dae Hyun Kim, David S. Friedman, Nazlee Zebardast
Summary: The study found disparities in eye care utilization among Black and Hispanic patients with glaucoma, with different levels of differences shown between the two racial groups.
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Allison S. Komorowski, Tarun Jain
Summary: Hispanic women have lower rates of use of infertility services than non-Hispanic White women, and there are various barriers and disparities affecting treatment outcomes. Addressing these disparities requires expanding insurance coverage, improving education for patients and providers, and conducting further research on access barriers.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY AND ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Jonathan Purtle, Damaris Lopez Mercado, Clara B. Barajas, Alexandra C. Rivera-Gonzalez, Ligia Chavez, Glorisa Canino, Alexander N. Ortega
Summary: This study assesses changes in the availability of mental health crisis services in Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Maria and Irma. The results show disparities between Puerto Rico and US states, particularly in the services provided by indigent care facilities.
HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Health Care Sciences & Services
Esmeralda Melgoza, Valeria Cardenas, Susan Enguidanos, Arturo Vargas Bustamante, Hiram Beltran-Sanchez
Summary: This systematic literature review provides an overview of studies that examine the experiences of Hispanic adults with EMS activation, on-scene care, mode of transport to an ED, and experiences with EMS during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings indicate that Hispanic adults are less likely to activate EMS, receive certain types of on-scene care, and use EMS as the mode of transport to an ED compared with non-Hispanic Whites. During the early COVID-19 pandemic period, EMS use decreased by 26.5%.
Article
Emergency Medicine
Esmeralda Melgoza, Hiram Beltran-Sanchez, Arturo Vargas Bustamante
Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico City led to a decline in injury-related 9-1-1 calls, traffic accidents, and crime rates during the early pandemic period. Although there was a recovery in these rates during the later pandemic period, they did not reach pre-pandemic levels.
PREHOSPITAL AND DISASTER MEDICINE
(2023)
Review
Clinical Neurology
Adys Mendizabal, Jennifer M. Diaz, Arturo V. Bustamante, Yvette Bordelon
Summary: This systematic literature review focuses on health services among patients with Huntington disease (HD), including causes of hospitalization, outcomes, and health care costs. The study found that dysphagia and dysphagia-related complications were the most common reasons for hospitalization in HD patients. Patients with HD had longer hospital stays and were more likely to be discharged to a facility. In terms of cost, patients with more advanced disease and both private and public insurances had higher expenditures.
NEUROLOGY-CLINICAL PRACTICE
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Damaris Lopez Mercado, Alexandra C. Rivera-Gonzalez, Jim P. Stimpson, Brent A. Langellier, Arturo Vargas Bustamante, Maria -Elena De Trinidad Young, Ninez A. Ponce, Clara B. Barajas, Dylan H. Roby, Alexander N. Ortega
Summary: Despite facing worse healthcare access and social disadvantages, immigrants generally have better health outcomes compared to U.S.-born individuals. This study focuses on examining the health status of undocumented Latino immigrants and how it differs from other Latino immigrant groups.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
(2023)
Letter
Health Care Sciences & Services
Joseph Nwadiuko, Akihiro Nishi, Sophie Terp, Annette M. Dekker, Arturo Vargas Bustamante, Parveen Parmar
JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Sungchul Park, Alexander N. Ortega, Jie Chen, Arturo Vargas Bustamante
Summary: This study examined the effects of Medicare coverage on immigrants and US-born residents at age 65. The results showed that Medicare eligibility significantly increased insurance coverage and reduced healthcare spending for both groups. However, immigrants showed limited improvements in access to healthcare and self-reported health, while US-born residents did not experience substantial changes.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Andrew J. Jalil, Joshua Tasoff, Arturo Vargas Bustamante
Summary: Limited evidence suggests that informational interventions can have long-term effects on reducing meat consumption. Our study, which analyzed over 100,000 meal selections over 3 years, found that students who received an informational intervention reduced their meat consumption by 5.6 percentage points with no signs of reversal. Cost calculations indicate a high return on investment (around $14 per metric ton CO(2)eq), making informational interventions a cost-effective approach to promoting sustainable food choices.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Sungchul Park, Arturo Vargas Bustamante, Jie Chen, Alexander N. Ortega
Summary: This study aimed to examine the differences in the use of high- and low-value healthcare between immigrant and US-born adults. The findings showed that after accounting for individual-level characteristics, the differences in the use of high- and low-value healthcare decreased between immigrant and US-born adults. Moreover, differences in socioeconomic status, health insurance, and access to care played a key role in accounting for the disparities in healthcare utilization between the two groups.
HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Arturo Vargas Bustamante, Laura E. Martinez, Siavash Jalal, Nayelie Benitez Santos, Lucia Felix Beltran, Jeremy Rich, Yohualli Balderas-Medina Anaya
Summary: This study examines the association between health coverage, patient race/ethnicity, and the number of in-person vs. telehealth visits among patients with chronic conditions before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that uninsured patients and those with Medicaid or Medicare coverage had a lower likelihood of telehealth visits compared to patients with private insurance. Additionally, Latino and Asian patients had a lower probability of telehealth use compared with white patients.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Pablo Gaitan-Rossi, Mireya Vilar-Compte, Arturo Vargas Bustamante
Summary: The Ventanillas de Salud (VDS) is an outreach program in Mexican Consulates in the United States that provides health care support to underserved Mexican immigrants. A qualitative study was conducted in Los Angeles and New York to investigate how the VDS adapted and continued operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. The VDS added new services, changed service provision methods, and expanded their network of partner organizations. The adaptations were well received by users, although there were some variations in service provision. The VDS is a valuable public health intervention that serves a marginalized population and offers lessons for improving preparedness for future crises.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR EQUITY IN HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Arturo Vargas Bustamante, Lucia Felix-Beltran, Joseph Nwadiuko, Alexander N. Ortega
Summary: The avoidance of Medicaid enrollment among Latino and Asian immigrants due to fears about immigration status has been estimated. Even after the reversal of the changes in the public charge rule, barriers to health care for immigrants persist.
HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
(2022)
