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Recovery from a cardiac-related hospitalization requires coordinated, timely care to prevent a return to the hospital for an avoidable readmission. A new study concludes that while the picture is getting brighter for all Medicare patients, persistent racial disparities are widening.

Poorer and rural patients were also less likely to have prompt post-discharge visits to check on issues such as medication, a common contributor to readmission.

The study, based on Medicare claims data over 10 years and published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, looked at whether patients with heart attack or heart failure had a visit with a cardiologist or a primary care clinician within the critical month after discharge.