A number of articles have appeared recently on the issue of racial disparities in health care—both treatment and management. The multiple pressures on state and federal policymakers, as well as on provider executives, may place racial disparity issues in a second tier of concerns, but these authors argue that the issue is a core part of the caring mission of health care, as well as of improving healthcare financing and delivery. Here are excerpts.
Deborah St one of Dartmouth College writes, “Although racial and ethnic disparities in health have been on the federal government’s agenda since 1985, no policy reforms have significantly reduced disparities. The question arises whether states can effectively address this issue without waiting for solutions from the national government.” She goes on to suggest that “a moral frame based on a concept of distributive justice in which medical care must be distributed according to need might give state policymakers more leverage and might strengthen political will to address the issue.” [“Reframing the Racial Disparities Issue for State Governments,” Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, Feb. 2006]
David Barton Smith of Temple University places emphasis on the role of the federal government and the need to change the way healthcare is financed: “A basic precondition for eliminating disparities in treatment is universal coverage and standard comprehensive benefits. These are also a basic precondition for controlling cost and improving quality for everyone. The current fragmented system of financing of care is in part a legacy of our racially segregated past. The current effort to document and eliminate racial disparities in treatment brings together minority group and quality improvement advocates.” [“Going Backward into the Future,” hfm magazine, Sept. 2005]
Another article cautions healthcare executives that racial disparities also exist in our healthcare management teams. Frederick D. Hobby, president and CEO of the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, writes, “What is diversity’s next challenge? Convincing the senior executives of the nation’s hospitals that they must become the chief cultural officers of their organizations. They must hold themselves and their subordinates accountable for the organization’s mission just as much as they hold them accountable for the margin.” [“Diversity’s Next Challenge,” hfm magazine, May 2006--print edition only]
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