In 2002, the Institute of Medicine issued an important report, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care, which showed that racial and ethnic minorities in the United States are less likely to receive equal routine medical procedures and that they experience a lower quality of health services. A large body of research demonstrates significant variation in the rates of medical procedures by race, even when insurance status, income, age, and severity of conditions are comparable, the report said.
Furthermore, minorities of all kinds, including African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latino, and many Asian Americans, are less likely to get certain medications or procedures, such as kidney dialysis or transplants. By contrast, the report added, they are more likely to receive certain less-desirable procedures, such as lower limb amputations for diabetes and other conditions. On this two-part Families in Focus special, this panel of experts discuss a number of ways to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care, including increasing awareness about disparities among the general public, health care providers, insurance companies, and policy-makers.
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Linda Holmes |
Dr. Maria Soto-Greene |
Hei Young Yoon |
Lois Greene |
Guests
Linda Holmes – Executive Director of the Office of Minority and Multicultural Health at the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services.
Dr. Maria Soto-Greene – Professor and Vice Dean at UMDNJ’s New Jersey Medical School and Director of the Hispanic Center of Excellence.
Hei Young Yoon – Supervisor of the Korean Medical Program at Holy Name Hospital.
Lois Greene – Assistant Vice President of Oncology and Hematology Services at Saint Michael’s Medical Center.
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