Racial disparities in cardiac care: geography matters.

Racial disparities in health care have been well-documented, although the reasons for many of these disparities remain obscure. An intriguing possibility is that geographic factors--the places where certain groups live or obtain health care--contribute to racial disparities, especially in the use of new medical technologies. This Issue Brief examines racial disparities in the use of life-saving cardiac procedures and mortality after cardiac arrest, and considers how geographic differences in health care affect these disparities.