Lack of Evidence for Racial Disparity in 30-Day All-Cause Readmission Rate for Older US Veterans Hospitalized with Heart Failure.

Background: Heart failure is the leading cause for 30-day all-cause readmission. Although racial disparities in health care are well documented, their impact on 30-day all-cause readmission rate is inconclusive.

Objective: We examined the impact of racial disparity on 30-day readmission for hospitalized patients with heart failure.

Current Canadian initiatives to reimburse live organ donors for their non-medical expenses.

Living organ donors frequently incur non-medical expenses for travel, accommodation, prescription drugs, loss of income, and child care in conjunction with organ donation. Despite international precedent and widespread public support, Canada currently lacks a unified strategy to reimburse donors for these expenses. In 2005, we communicated with 78 individuals within the field of Canadian transplantation to identify which initiatives for reimbursement of living donors existed in each province.

The direct and indirect economic costs incurred by living kidney donors-a systematic review.

Background: Despite the many benefits of living donor kidney transplantation, economic consequences can result for donors. We reviewed studies which quantified the direct and indirect costs incurred by living kidney donors, in order to understand the strengths and limitations of existing literature.

Methods: We identified relevant studies in MEDLINE, EMBASE and ECONOLIT bibliographic databases, in the Science Citation Index and study reference lists.

Progress and pitfalls in underrepresented minority recruitment: perspectives from the medical schools.

Purpose: To assess current initiatives at U.S. medical schools to recruit underrepresented minorities (URM) and to identify perceived barriers to enrollment of URM students.