Most in U.S. see disparities in care of minority patients

A majority of Hispanics cite language as a barrier to medical care while blacks and other minorities blame discrimination.

By Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli, AMNews correspondent. Oct. 20, 2003.

Several years ago, while working at another hospital, Hilton M. Hudson, MD, now chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Reid Hospital in Richmond, Ind., combed the halls looking for a Spanish interpreter after a nurse sent one of his Hispanic patients home with instructions written in English. "I had to go to his home to make sure the family knew what to do and needed an interpreter," he said. With no interpreter available, Dr. Hudson found a Spanish-speaking janitor to go with him. "We can take their money; we can operate, but not get an interpreter? That's disparity and that's why African-Americans and Latinos perceive differences."

But how widespread is the perception that the U.S. health system is failing minority patients?

Two out of three blacks believe they receive care inferior to that whites receive. One in five whites agree. According to a new public opinion poll, 54% of Americans surveyed believe health care professionals treat minority and white patients differently. Released in September by the Harvard Forums on Health, a project of Harvard University's Interfaculty Program for Health Systems Improvement, the survey cited several reasons for unequal treatment, including cultural and language barriers and discrimination by health professionals.

The results are no surprise to JudyAnn Bigby, MD, a primary care physician and medical director of Community Health Programs at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. But what interests Dr. Bigby, who heads several minority women's health programs aimed at bridging gaps in care, is the high percentage of whites who said disparities exist. "This is important information coming from different sources," she said about the survey results. "People in health care don't like it when there's talk about things like bias and often become defensive. So we need as much data as possible that demonstrate this to us."