Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries who enrolled in event notifications (study cohort) compared to all other hospitalized FFS beneficiaries in the Bronx (2010–2014)
| Characteristics | Study panel | Other hospitalized FFS beneficiaries in the Bronx |
|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | |
| (n = 2559) | (n = 75 991) | |
| Age | 72.73 (14.34) | 70.92 (15.11) |
| Sex (male) | 0.31 (0.46) | 0.41 (0.49) |
| Race/ethnicity | ||
| White non-Hispanic | 0.40 (0.49) | 0.54 (0.50) |
| African American non-Hispanic | 0.37 (0.48) | 0.28 (0.45) |
| Other non-Hispanic | 0.05 (0.23) | 0.06 (0.24) |
| Hispanic | 0.17 (0.37) | 0.12 (0.32) |
| Elixhauser score | 2.91 (1.55) | 2.40 (1.53) |
| Length of stay (in days) | 5.23 (3.98) | 4.96 (4.04) |
| Medicaid dual eligible | 0.69 (0.46) | 0.57 (0.49) |
| Annual readmission rates | ||
| 2010 | 25.58 (0.44) | 24.45 (0.43) |
| 2011 | 28.83 (0.45) | 24.39 (0.43) |
| 2012 | 30.17 (0.46) | 24.32 (0.43) |
| 2013 | 29.11 (0.45) | 24.39 (0.43) |
| 2014 | 29.10 (0.45) | 25.06 (0.43) |
Information from the beneficiary’s first admission was used to calculate means and standard deviations. All differences were statistically significant with P < .001 except for “Other non-Hispanic” (P = .076) and 2010 readmission rates (0.064).