Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - March 13, 2008
Karl B. Hille, khille@baltimoreexaminer.com
When whites and minorities are admitted to a hospital for the same reason, they receive the same quality care in that hospital, said University of Maryland's health care economist Darrel Gaskin.
In a study appearing in the March 11 issue of Health Affairs, Gaskin's team found that of 1,841 hospitals in 13 states, only a few hospitals provide lower quality care to minorities than to whites.
"Any Maryland hospital, you can rest assured if you go in there to be treated, the standard of care they provide their patients doesn't depend on the ethnicity of the patient," Gaskin said.
This came as a pleasant surprise to his research team, he said. "We know there are differences for referral rates for minorities to see a specialist, and the number of surgical procedures, as well as whether patients receive counseling about behavioral changes after treatment," he said.
About 30 percent of the population belongs to a racial or ethnic minority group, according to the 2000 U.S. census. The Census Bureau estimates that by the end of the century, 40 percent of Americans will call themselves non-Hispanic whites.
In addition to being at higher risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and HIV/AIDS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that minorities fare poorly in getting their adult and childhood immunizations, and suffer higher rates of infant mortality.
"Our results suggest that we need to look more carefully at other areas to find where disparities are originating, such as getting access to the good hospitals in the first place," Gaskin said.
The study compared a broad range of services and directly compared hospital-specific quality indicators for racial and ethnic groups.
Gaskin's team examined rates of mortality and complications like developing an ulcer or pneumonia after being admitted to the hospital.
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