A new report reveals African-Americans are hospitalized at a higher rate than other ethnic groups in California. This disparity is found for a variety of different health conditions.
The report looks at ethnic disparities in preventable hospitalizations from 1999 to 2007. African-Americans had the worst rates for 14 out of 16 conditions, including high blood pressure and complications from diabetes.
The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development issued the report. Director David Carlisle said the data is troubling.
"The hospitalization rates for African-Americans are very high", Dr. Carlisle said. "And I think this is reflective of poor access to or poor quality of care outside the hospital."
But when the report looked at death rates for hospital care in California, the ethnic disparities largely disappeared. In fact, the report shows an overall drop in death rates for nine different health measures.
