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Championing health equity

Close the Gap, a Boston Scientific initiative, has championed health equity for over two decades.

Close the Gap initiative

Close the Gap aims to improve pathways to specialty care and increase access to interventions for underserved patients so that everyone receives the life- and limb-saving care they need

It’s time to intervene

Studies have shown that barriers to care lead to heart and vascular treatment disparities​ for women and people of color

Peripheral Artery Disease

2x

Black patients are 2 times more likely* to receive an amputation and less likely to receive revascularization first 1,2

Coronary Artery Disease

15%

Hispanic patients are 15% less likely* to receive PCI when presenting with heart attack symptoms 3

Atrial Fibrillation

4%

Black patients represent only ~4% of all LAAC procedures 4,5

Heart Failure

Black & Hispanic patients are less likely* to receive CRT & ICD therapies 6-8

1. Mustapha JA, Katzen BT, Neville RF, et al. Determinants of Long-Term Outcomes and Costs in the Management of Critical Limb Ischemia: A Population-Based Cohort Study. JAHA. 2018;7(16):e009724. doi:10.1161/JAHA.118.009724 2. Criqui MH, Vargas V, Denenberg JO, et al. Ethnicity and Peripheral Arterial Disease: The San Diego Population Study. Circulation. 2005;112(17):2703-2707. doi:10.1161/ CIRCULATIONAHA.105.546507 3. Tertulien T, Broughton ST, Swabe G, Essien UR, Magnani JW. Association of Race and Ethnicity on the Management of Acute Non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction. J Am Heart Assoc. 2022 Jun 21;11(12):e025758. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.121.025758. Epub 2022 Jun 14. PMID: 35699168; PMCID: PMC9238643. 4. Vincent L, Grant J, Ebner B, Potchileev I, Maning J, Olorunfemi O, Olarte N, Colombo R, de Marchena E. Racial disparities in the utilization and in-hospital outcomes of percutaneous left atrial appendage closure among patients with atrial fibrillation. Heart Rhythm. 2021 Jun;18(6):987-994. doi: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2021.02.008. Epub 2021 Feb 12. PMID: 33588068. 5. Freeman JV, Varosy P, Price MJ, Slotwiner D, Kusumoto FM, Rammohan C, Kavinsky CJ, Turi ZG, Akar J, Koutras C, Curtis JP, Masoudi FA. The NCDR Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion Registry. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020 Apr 7;75(13):1503-1518. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2019.12.040. PMID: 32238316; PMCID: PMC7205034. 6. Farmer SA, Kirkpatrick JN, Heidenreich PA, Curtis JP, Wang Y, Groeneveld PW. Ethnic and racial disparities in cardiac resynchronization therapy. Heart Rhythm. 2009;6(3):325-331. doi:10.1016/j.hrthm.2008.12.018 7. Ziaeian B, Zhang Y, Albert NM, et al. Clinical Effectiveness of CRT and ICD Therapy in Heart Failure Patients by Racial/Ethnic Classification. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2014;64(8):797-807. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2014.05.060 8. Marzec​LN, Peterson PN, Bao H, et al. Use of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Among Eligible Patients Receiving an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator: Insights From the National Cardiovascular Data Registry Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Registry. JAMA Cardiol. 2017;2(5):561. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2016.5388​

Our approach

Close the Gap’s dedicated team enables change across three health equity interventions: (1) Health System Improvement, (2) Clinical Trial Diversity, and (3) Equitable Care Advocacy.