Disparities in communication among the inpatient homeless population at a safety-net hospital.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether the homeless population experiences disparities in care and communication during inpatient hospitalizations in a safety-net hospital.

METHODS

We administered a modified Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey to 112 age-sex- and education matched homeless and non-homeless adults at a university-affiliated-safety-net hospital from December 2017 through March 2018 and performed a retrospective review of medical records. Linear regression models were used to assess differences in responses to survey subscales, length of stay and other measures.

RESULTS

Homeless participants trended toward poorer ratings for all HCAHPS subscales, reaching significance for the Communication about Medications subscale, with a mean score 1.2 (95% CI 0.48-1.76) points lower compared to non-homeless sample. Length of stay was not significantly different between homeless and non-homeless participants.

CONCLUSION

In an urban safety-net hospital, disparities in communications regarding medications between hospital staff and patients were found based on housing status.