Minority health care: No easy answer to disparities

A panel exploring disparities in care received by minorities may provide new direction to solving this serious problem.

Editorial. Dec. 10, 2001.

The Institute of Medicine's public meetings held this fall to explore the types and quality of health services received by racial and ethnic minorities have focused new attention on the issue of disparities in care that has concerned physicians and policy-makers in recent years.

The IOM created the 15-member panel conducting the inquiry in response to a 1999 mandate from Congress for an assessment of the health care services received by minorities and non-minorities in the United States. The IOM study is designed to assess the extent of racial and ethnic difference in care not otherwise attributable to known factors such as access; e.g., the ability to pay or insurance coverage.

The panel also is evaluating potential sources of racial and ethnic disparities in care, including the role of bias, discrimination and stereotyping in all elements of the health care system. Most important, it is charged with developing recommendations toward eliminating disparities in care.

The issue, of course, is not a new one. Vast amounts of data have been accumulated over the years showing that there indeed are significant variances in the level of care and in health care outcomes among minority groups.

In 1995, the American Medical Association adopted a series of recommendations targeting this problem. The AMA took "a position of zero tolerance toward racially or culturally based disparities in care" and promised to support efforts by the profession and others to identify and eliminate it. [...]