Disparities in Postdischarge Ambulatory Care Follow‐Up Among Medicaid Beneficiaries With Diabetes, Hospitalized for Heart Failure

BACKGROUND: Ambulatory follow‐up for all patients with heart failure (HF) is recommended within 7 to 14 days after hospital discharge to improve HF outcomes. We examined postdischarge ambulatory follow‐up of patients with comorbid diabetes and HF from a low‐income population in primary and specialty care. METHODS AND RESULTS: Adults with diabetes and first hospitalizations for HF, covered by Alabama Medicaid in 2010 to 2019, were included and the claims analyzed for ambulatory care use (any, primary care, cardiology, or endocrinology) within 60 days after discharge using restricted mean survival time regression and negative binomial regression. Among 9859 Medicaid‐covered adults with diabetes and first hospitalization for HF (mean age, 53.7 years; SD, 9.2 years; 47.3% Black; 41.8% non‐Hispanic White; 10.9% Hispanic/Other [Other included non‐White Hispanic, American Indian, Pacific Islander and Asian adults]; 65.4% women, 34.6% men), 26.7% had an ambulatory visit within 0 to 7 days, 15.2% within 8 to 14 days, 31.3% within 15 to 60 days, and 26.8% had no visit; 71% saw a primary care physician and 12% a cardiology physician. Black and Hispanic/Other adults were less likely to have any postdischarge ambulatory visit (P<0.0001) or the visit was delayed (by 1.8 days, P=0.0006 and by 2.8 days, P=0.0016, respectively) and were less likely to see a primary care physician than non‐Hispanic White adults (adjusted incidence rate ratio, 0.96 [95% CI, 0.91–1.00] and 0.91 [95% CI, 0.89–0.98]; respectively). CONCLUSIONS: More than half of Medicaid‐covered adults with diabetes and HF in Alabama did not receive guideline‐concordant postdischarge care. Black and Hispanic/Other adults were less likely to receive recommended postdischarge care for comorbid diabetes and HF.