Doctors Miss Cultural Needs, Study Says

The New York Times reports that stark racial disparities are found in medical treatment of patients, even when treated by the same doctors.

The referenced article, “Physician Performance and Racial Disparities in Diabetes Mellitus Care” in the June 9, 2008, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, concludes that  “Racial differences in DM outcomes are primarily related to patients’ characteristics and within-physician effects, wherein individual physicians achieve less favorable outcomes among their black patients than their white patients. Efforts to eliminate these disparities, including race-stratified performance reports and programs to enhance care for minority patients, should be addressed to all physicians.”

The issue also includes the editorial, “Improving Care Quality and Reducing Disparities: Physicians’ Roles.”

Report: Black, poor children face higer toxic air risks

PolicyLink, a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity by Lifting Up What Works®, has published a new report entitled, “Breathing Easy from Home to School: Fighting the Environmental Triggers of Childhood Asthma.”

According to FinalCall.com, the report states that the “[r]ates for emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and death among children due to asthma are substantially higher in Black children in comparison to White children. Thirteen percent of all children suffering from asthma are Black compared to 8% White. Puerto Ricans lead the nation at 19%.”