Momentum building to end health care disparities

Doctors are talking with colleagues and reading journal articles for advice on how to ensure that all patients get equal care.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. May 16, 2005.

Washington -- Physicians are getting the message that they have a major role to play in eliminating disparities in health care, and many are already looking to their own practices to address this concern.

A national survey conducted by the AMA Institute for Ethics found that 55% of physicians believe that minority patients generally receive a lower quality of care than non-minority patients, and 75% said they are in a good position to improve that care.

These results indicate a deepening understanding of the challenges at hand.

In 2002, an Institute of Medicine report found that inequities existed across a broad range of clinically necessary treatments in several areas of care, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and mental illness.

The IOM report came soon after a Kaiser Family Foundation survey was released suggesting that the majority of physicians believe that racial and ethnic disparities rarely or never happened.

That information helped propel physician involvement in the issue, and the American Medical Association, the National Medical Assn. and the National Hispanic Medical Assn. announced the formation of the Commission to End Health Care Disparities in January. The three groups joined with more than 30 other health-related organizations in forming the commission.

The survey was the commission's first activity.

"There is a great deal of work to be done to end health care disparities, but this survey is encouraging," said AMA President John C. Nelson, MD, MPH. "It shows that physicians of all races are eager to learn how they can do more to eliminate disparities in medical care."