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The Institute of Medicine defines health literacy as “the degree to which individuals can obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” Low health literacy raises risk for adverse health outcomes and is estimated to account for as much as 5% of annual U.S. healthcare costs. In this retrospective study, researchers evaluated the association between low health literacy and all-cause mortality and hospitalizations among 1494 outpatients with heart failure. Health literacy was gauged as either low or adequate with the use of three screening questions. Participants were members of a Colorado managed care organization and were identified between 2001 and 2008.
Nearly 18% of pati…