However, they operate in an inherently racist system." 3 In addition, we know that our own subconscious prejudices, also called implicit bias, can affect the way we treat patients.
The answer to why is complicated.Ĭases like my patient's above illustrate the negative assumptions and associations we can label racism, but "most physicians are not explicitly racist and are committed to treating all patients equally. 1,2 Why are certain groups of patients getting different care?ĭoctors take an oath to treat all patients equally, and yet not all patients are treated equally well. 1,2 These health disparities were first "officially" noted back in the 1980s, and though a concerted effort by government agencies resulted in some improvement, the most recent report shows ongoing differences by race and ethnicity for all measures.
experience more illness, worse outcomes, and premature death compared with whites. It is well-established that blacks and other minority groups in the U.S. She is convinced that she was treated poorly by that emergency room because she is black.Īnd she was probably right. Eventually, she received a diagnosis and appropriate care somewhere else. She is a middle-aged, churchgoing lady who has never had issues with substance abuse. There was nothing in her history to suggest that she was pain medication seeking. They couldn't get rid of me fast enough." They didn't try to make any diagnosis or help me at all. The emergency room staff not only did not treat her pain, but she recounted: "They treated me like I was trying to play them, like I was just trying to get pain meds out of them. "People fail to get along because they fear each other they fear each other because they don't know each other they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other."Ī patient of mine recently shared a story with me about her visit to an area emergency room a few years ago.* She had a painful medical condition.
0 kommentar(er)
