Review articleAccess disparities to Magnet hospitals for patients undergoing neurosurgical operations

- Access disparities can have detrimental consequences for population health.
- We used a comprehensive all-payer cohort in New York State.
- Lack of insurance was associated with non-Magnet institutions.
- African-American race was associated with non-Magnet institutions.

BackgroundCenters of excellence focusing on quality improvement have demonstrated superior outcomes for a variety of surgical interventions. We investigated the presence of access disparities to hospitals recognized by the Magnet Recognition Program of the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for patients undergoing neurosurgical operations.MethodsWe performed a cohort study of all neurosurgery patients who were registered in the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) database from 2009 to 2013. We examined the association of African-American race and lack of insurance with Magnet status hospitalization for neurosurgical procedures. A mixed effects propensity adjusted multivariable regression analysis was used to control for confounding.ResultsDuring the study period, 190,535 neurosurgical patients met the inclusion criteria. Using a multivariable logistic regression, we demonstrate that African-Americans had lower admission rates to Magnet institutions (OR 0.62; 95% CI, 0.58-0.67). This persisted in a mixed effects logistic regression model (OR 0.77; 95% CI, 0.70-0.83) to adjust for clustering at the patient county level, and a propensity score adjusted logistic regression model (OR 0.75; 95% CI, 0.69-0.82). Additionally, lack of insurance was associated with lower admission rates to Magnet institutions (OR 0.71; 95% CI, 0.68-0.73), in a multivariable logistic regression model. This persisted in a mixed effects logistic regression model (OR 0.72; 95% CI, 0.69-0.74), and a propensity score adjusted logistic regression model (OR 0.72; 95% CI, 0.69-0.75).ConclusionsUsing a comprehensive all-payer cohort of neurosurgery patients in New York State we identified an association of African-American race and lack of insurance with lower rates of admission to Magnet hospitals.