HCP faculty members, LeRoi Hicks, MD, MPH and John Ayanian, MD, MPP collaborated with researchers Nakela L. Cook, MD, MPH, and E. John Orav, PhD,  to publish the article, “Differences in Specialist Consultations for Cardiovascular Disease by Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Insurance Status, and Site of Primary Care” in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association. The researchers studied electronic records of approximately 10,000 adults with coronary artery disease or congestive heart failure (CHF) receiving primary care at practices associated with two academic medical centers during 2000-2005. During this time, 80% of patients with coronary artery disease and 90% of patients with CHF received a cardiology consultation. For both conditions, women were less likely to receive a consultation than men, and women had 15% fewer follow-up consultations than men. Additionally, patients receiving care at community health centers were less likely to receive a consultation and as a result, had 20% fewer follow-up consultations. Cook et al. concluded that consultation is associated with better quality of care, particularly for women, and thus decreases the gender gap in quality. Cook was an HCP post-doctoral research fellow when this study was conducted, and she is currently on staff at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

To learn more, read the article itself, and news coverage of the study from US News and World Report.