Medical care
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Little is known about why black patients and other ethnic/racial minorities are less likely to receive the best treatments independent of clinical appropriateness, payer, and treatment site. Although both provider and patient behavior have been suggested as possible explanatory factors, the potential role of provider behavior has remained largely unexplored. Does provider behavior contribute to systematic inequities? If so, why? The purpose of this paper is to build on existing evidence to provide an integrated, coherent, and sound approach to future research on the provider contribution to race/ethnicity disparities in medical care. First, the existing evidence suggestive of a provider contribution to race/ethnicity variance in medical care is discussed. Second, a proposed causal model, based on a review of the social cognition and provider behavior literature, representing an integrated set of hypothesized mechanisms through which physician behavior may contribute to race/ethnicity disparities in care is presented. ⋯ There is sufficient evidence for the hypothesis that provider behavior contributes to race/ethnicity disparities in care to warrant further study. Although there is some evidence of support of the hypotheses that both provider beliefs about of patients and provider behavior during encounters are independently influenced by patient race/ethnicity further systematic rigorous study is needed and is proposed as a major immediate research priority. These mechanisms deserve intensive research focus as they may prove to be the most promising targets for interventions intended to ameliorate the provider contribution to disparities in care.
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Comparative Study
Veteran identity and race/ethnicity: influences on VA outpatient care utilization.
"Veteran identity" is defined as veterans' self-concept that derives from his/her military experience within a sociohistorical context. Veteran identity may vary by race/ethnicity because the sociohistorical context of the military experience varies by race. ⋯ Minority veterans who highly identify with their veteran status may prefer the VA to other systems of care. Factors associated with veteran identity may be useful for incorporation into interventions to improve access to VA care.
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Comparative Study
Racial variations in postoperative outcomes of carotid endarterectomy: evidence from the Veterans Affairs National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.
Black patients and Hispanic patients receive carotid endarterectomy (CEA) at lower rates than white patients. It is unclear whether worse surgical outcomes are influencing clinical decision-making regarding use of the operation among minority group patients. ⋯ Rates of major postoperative complications after CEA are low within the VA and similar across racial/ethnic groups with the possible exception of Hispanic men with TIA. Further investigation of this elevated complication rate among Hispanic men with TIA may be warranted.
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Hospitals are ranked based on risk-adjusted measures of postoperative mortality, but definitions differ about which deaths following surgery should be included. ⋯ Judgments regarding the quality of a hospital's performance of coronary artery bypass surgery vary depending on the definition of postoperative mortality that is used. Further research is needed to assess what definition is most appropriate to identify quality of care problems.
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Comparative Study
Disparities in health care by race, ethnicity, and language among the insured: findings from a national sample.
Racial and ethnic disparities in health care have been well documented, but poorly explained. ⋯ Among insured nonelderly adults, there are appreciable disparities in health-care use by race and Hispanic ethnicity. Ethnic disparities in care are largely explained by differences in English fluency, but racial disparities in care are not explained by commonly used access factors.