Lobbying for her community: Looking for a paradigm shift

Training more Hispanic doctors is key to helping patients overcome cultural, linguistic and economic barriers to quality care, the National Hispanic Medical Assn. president says.

By Kevin B. O'Reilly, AMNews staff. Sept. 11, 2006.

She was the first person in her Mexican-American family to leave home for a four-year university. But as a girl, Elena V. Rios, MD, MPH, had even bigger dreams. While working as a candy striper at the Southern California hospital where her mother was a nurse, Dr. Rios realized she wanted to be involved in medicine -- ultimately leading her to medical school. After seeing vast disparities in care during her internal medicine residencies in San Jose, Calif., and East Los Angeles, Dr. Rios' commitment to improving Hispanic health through policy and organizational work was reaffirmed.

Her career path ultimately led her to launch the National Hispanic Medical Assn. in 1994. The group has a $2 million budget, about 1,000 members and is on the AMA Minority Affairs Consortium Governing Council. She's been the group's full-time president and CEO since 1998.

AMNews reporter Kevin B. O'Reilly recently spoke with Dr. Rios about the barriers to care Hispanics face and what can be done to reduce them.

AMNews: What are the challenges Hispanic patients face that contribute to disparities in health care ?

Dr. Rios: Hispanics proportionally have the worst record for all access indicators, whether it's financial, like insurance status, or nonfinancial, such as trust in your doctor and having a regular source of care. Part of the problem is that growing numbers of Hispanics come from other countries and arrive with different values, don't trust the system and don't know how to apply for different types of programs.