Your browser doesn't support javascript.
Access to Health Care Improves COVID-19 Vaccination and Mitigates Health Disparities Among Medicare Beneficiaries.
Lane, Jason; Palacio, Ana; Chen, Li Ern; McCarter, Daniel; Tamariz, Leonardo; Chen, Christopher James; Ghany, Reyan.
  • Lane J; Department of Medicine, Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
  • Palacio A; Chen Neighborhood Medical Centers, Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, 1120 NW 14th St, Suite 1124, Miami, FL, 33136, USA.
  • Chen LE; The Geriatric Research and Education Center, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, FL, USA.
  • McCarter D; Department of Medicine, Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
  • Tamariz L; Department of Medicine, Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
  • Chen CJ; Chen Neighborhood Medical Centers, Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, 1120 NW 14th St, Suite 1124, Miami, FL, 33136, USA. ltamariz@med.miami.edu.
  • Ghany R; The Geriatric Research and Education Center, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, FL, USA. ltamariz@med.miami.edu.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities ; 2022 Sep 28.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2048693
ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

COVID-19 disproportionately impacts the elderly, particularly racial/ethnic minorities and those with low socioeconomic status (SES). These latter groups may also have higher vaccine hesitancy. We aim to evaluate if access to care improves COVID-19 vaccination rates and improves health disparities.

METHODS:

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of Medicare patients receiving care in a high-touch capitated network across ten states. We collected type and date of COVID-19 vaccine and demographic and clinical data from the inpatient and outpatient electronic health records and socioeconomic status from the US census. Our primary outcome was completing vaccination using logistic regression.

RESULTS:

Our cohort included 93,224 patients enrolled in the network during the study period. Sixty nine percent of all enrolled patients completed full vaccination. Those who completed vaccination did it with Pfizer (46%), Moderna (49%), and Jannsen (4.6%) vaccines. In adjusted models, we found that the following characteristics increased the odds of being vaccinated being male, increasing age, BMI, and comorbidities, being Black or Hispanic, having had the flu vaccine in 2020, and increasing number of office primary care visits. Living in a neighborhood with higher social deprivation and having dual Medicaid/Medicare enrollment decreased the odds of completing full vaccination.

CONCLUSIONS:

Increasing office visit in a high-touch primary care model is associated with higher vaccination rates among elderly populations who belong to racial/ethnic minorities or have low socioeconomic status. However, lower SES and Medicaid populations continue to have difficulty in completing vaccination. KEY POINTS • High COVID-19 vaccination rates of minorities enrolled in Medicare can be achieved. • Lower socioeconomic status is associated with completing vaccination. • Increasing office visits can lead to higher vaccination rates.
Keywords

Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Type of study: Cohort study / Experimental Studies / Observational study / Prognostic study / Randomized controlled trials Topics: Vaccines Language: English Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: S40615-022-01343-1

Similar

MEDLINE

...
LILACS

LIS


Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Type of study: Cohort study / Experimental Studies / Observational study / Prognostic study / Randomized controlled trials Topics: Vaccines Language: English Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: S40615-022-01343-1