HEALTHInstitute of Medicine panel wrestles with racial, ethnic disparities in careMedical and legal experts are assessing differences in care, exploring what causes these differences and offering policy, practice recommendations to address them.By Stephanie Stapleton, amednews staff. Sept. 24, 2001. Washington -- Surgeon General David Satcher, MD, PhD, often recounts the story of a serious illness he suffered as a very young child in Anniston, Ala. His father had to summon the only African-American physician in the area to come to the family home. It was a defining experience, he says. It was this event that led him to develop an interest in pursuing a career in medicine. It was also his first exposure to racial and ethnic disparities in health care -- a topic, he says, "in which I've had some interest for a few years now." Dr. Satcher was speaking at a workshop held Sept. 6 by the Institute of Medicine Committee on Understanding and Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. The meeting was one in a series of five public sessions held by a 15-member expert panel in response to a 1999 congressional request to assess the extent of differences in the types and quality of health care services received by racial and ethnic minorities and nonminorities in the United States. Congress also asked the IOM to explore factors that may contribute to any inequities in care. The panel was also charged with developing policy and practice recommendations that could help lead to the elimination of any such inequities. A large and consistent body of research demonstrates that racial and ethnic minorities receive a lower quality and intensity of health care, even when factors such as insurance status, education, income, comorbid conditions and the severity of presenting symptoms are taken into account, according to IOM materials.
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Copyright 2001 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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