The Impact of Regionalization of Cystectomy on Racial Disparities in Bladder Cancer Care

Purpose: Regionalization of surgical care has improved the quality of care for patients with bladder cancer. We explored whether regionalization has benefited white and black patients equally. Materials and Methods: We used a New York State inpatient database to identify all patients who underwent cystectomy for bladder cancer from 1997 to 2011. Hospital volume was classified in quintiles based on the number of cystectomies performed in the first 5 years of the study. Logistic regression was done to assess the association between race and low volume/very low volume hospitals. Racial disparities were further characterized using stratification by time and by the racial composition of the patient community. Results: A total of 8,168 patients treated with cystectomy for bladder cancer were included in analysis. Compared with white race, black race was associated with a higher likelihood of low volume/very low volume hospital use (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.26-2.02). The disparity was most prominent in 2002 to 2006 (OR 2.51, 95% CI 1.64-3.85) but it did not persist in 2007 to 2011 (OR 1.46, 95% CI 0.92-2.32). Black patients living in a black community had the highest likelihood of low volume/very low volume hospitalization during all periods of increased regionalization (2002 to 2006 OR 4.14, 95% CI 1.84-9.34 and 2007 to 2011 OR 2.40, 95% CI 1.07-5.39). Conclusions: Regionalization of cystectomy transiently worsened the racial disparity in bladder cancer care, although the disparity did not persist with time. Specific efforts may be needed to address the consequences of regionalization in particularly vulnerable subpopulations, such as black patients who live in a black community where disparities have persisted.