Almost half of the workers in the U.S. medical field report that they’ve witnessed discrimination in health care, according to a new report.
Released this week by the Commonwealth Fund, the report, titled “Revealing Disparities: Health Care Workers’ Observations of Discrimination Against Patients,” surveyed approximately 3,000 healthcare workers from March 14 to April 5, 2023.
The workers included doctors, medical assistants, dental hygienists, physician assistants, mental health workers, licensed practical nurses and other higher-up members of the administration.
In their analysis of the findings, the researchers at the Commonwealth Fund found that 47% of these workers said they’d seen discrimination against Black or Latino patients firsthand, with 52% of the surveys saying they thought racial discrimination was a prominent issue in their facility.
In hospitals with majority-Black patients, more workers agreed that there is racial discrimination with 70% of the workers saying that there’s higher rates of discrimination.
Racism was also prominent among the workers themselves, with 58% of Black healthcare workers and 49% of Latino healthcare workers saying that they’ve been subjected to discriminatory treatment.
Per the Commonwealth Fund, of the people surveyed for the report, it was the younger healthcare workers who were able to spot discrimination at higher rates as they were more likely to identify actions as being discriminatory.
“The study shines a light on the discrimination and racism health care workers observe and the implications for negative health outcomes of patients in many communities,” said Henry Fernandez, CEO of AARC and the report’s lead author per a news release. “Understanding this connection at a national level is critical to measuring and addressing discrimination in the health care system to mitigate harm to patients and produce better health outcomes overall.”
Due to discriminatory practices and racial bias, Black patients are often unable to receive accurate and quality health care for illness, perpetrating disproportionately high rates of illness in the community.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Black patients are generally more at risk when it comes to illnesses such as heart diseases, strokes, cancer, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS, influenza and asthma.
When diagnosed with one of these illnesses, they’re more likely to have fatal cases and more likely to develop a sickness in their younger ages.
According to the report, 0.7% of Black young adults from the ages of 18 to 34 have already had a stroke compared to 0.4% of white patients. When it came to high blood pressure, 12% of Black young adults in this age range said they had high blood pressure compared to 10% of white patients.
Due to discrimination, these patients often receive inadequate treatment, including lower-quality care.
To decrease the reported levels of racism, researchers at the Commonwealth Fund suggest that facilities include training on how to spot discrimination as well as an anonymous tool for patients and workers to report cases of discrimination.
“If we are going to build truly equitable health care systems, we have to start
by listening to voices of those on the front lines,” said Senior Vice President and coauthor Laurie C. Zephyrin, M.D, per the release. “Understanding what health care workers are experiencing, and what they want and need from their employers and colleagues to address discrimination, is critical to successful and sustainable change.”
