Eliminating Healthcare Disparities in America : Beyond the IOM Report

In __Eliminating Healthcare Disparities in America__, Dr. Richard Allen Williams assembles the very best scholars on healthcare disparities to raise the public consciousness of this issue. These experts provide the benefits of their experience and expertise as a resource for helping others to make judicious determinations about how to proceed in efforts to improve the disparities in American healthcare. Arranged into discrete categories, this volume contains comprehensive coverage, both historical and current, of the healthcare disparity crisis currently plaguing our country in hopes of leading us all to a brighter future. The volume includes chapters of examples that are currently working and concludes with recommendations on how to move forward. The text is not intended to be one in which all of the answers are given to the multitude of problems. Instead, __Eliminating Healthcare Disparities in America__ is intended to raise the reader’s level of consciousness and concern and to increase the knowledge base about the issues. This groundbreaking text will be an initial spark that ignites the fire that may one day eliminate healthcare disparities in communities around the country.

In Eliminating Healthcare Disparities in America, Dr. Richard Allen Williams assembles the very best scholars on healthcare disparities to raise the public consciousness of this issue. These experts provide the benefits of their experience and expertise as a resource for helping others to make judicious determinations about how to proceed in efforts to improve the disparities in American healthcare. Arranged into discrete categories, this volume contains comprehensive coverage, both historical and current, of the healthcare disparity crisis currently plaguing our country in hopes of leading us all to a brighter future. The volume includes chapters of examples that are currently working and concludes with recommendations on how to move forward. The text is not intended to be one in which all of the answers are given to the multitude of problems. Instead, Eliminating Healthcare Disparities in America is intended to raise the reader's level of consciousness and concern and to increase the knowledge base about the issues. This groundbreaking text will be an initial spark that ignites the fire that may one day eliminate healthcare disparities in communities around the country. Features: Chapters written by the best scholars of healthcare disparities, Conveniently divided into sections that address the history of disparities, approaches to change, and what currently works.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Laura Anderko, RN, PhD(Georgetown University)
Description:This book presents historical perspectives of racial disparities in medical care, and possible interventions to eliminate healthcare disparities.
Purpose:The purpose is to help others proceed in their efforts to improve the "disparities situation," and "to raise the reader's level of consciousness and concern and to increase the knowledge base about the issues." These are worthy objectives, which the book achieves in many, but not all, of the chapters.
Audience:This book is intended, and I believe appropriate, for all those interested in the field of health and healthcare, with an emphasis on those in the medical profession in chapters authored by the editor.
Features:One of the most persistent patterns observed since the 12th century is that those in the lowest socioeconomic status groups have the highest rates of morbidity and mortality. Many chapters in this book address the complex nature of healthcare disparities and provide a serious look at how to overcome them in the U.S. Chapters authored by the editor provide a much weaker, less researched, version of information than that presented by the other authors. His focus on the medical profession (as opposed to all health professionals) limits the scope of applicability of the material presented. Additionally, his focus on African Americans limits the scope and magnitude of the issues impacting disparities in healthcare.
Assessment:Although the book offers some innovative strategies for exploring health disparities (e.g., Krieger et al., and geocoding) as well as the politics that have prevented universal health care (Bigby), its failure to take a global perspective, comparing the U.S. with other industrialized nations, provides a narrow viewpoint and one that fundamentally misses the mark.

I. Underlying causes of healthcare disparities -- 1. Historical perspectives on healthcare disparities : is the past prologue? / Richard Allen Williams -- 2. Epidemiology of racial and ethnic disparities in health and healthcare / George A. Mensah and Maleeka J. Glover -- 3. Cultural diversity in medicine and in healthcare delivery / Richard Allen Williams -- II. Current problems -- 4. Healthcare and the politics of race / M. Gregg Bloche -- 5. Barriers to eliminating disparities in clinical practice: lessons from the IOM report "Unequal Treatment" / Joseph R. Betancourt and Angela Maina -- 6. Second-class medicine: implications of evidence-based medicine for improving minority access to the correct pharmaceutical therapy / Randall W. Maxey and Richard Allen Williams -- 7. The diversity benefit: how does diversity among health professionals address public needs? / Brian D. Smedley -- III. Approaches to correcting the problems -- 8. Eliminating disparities in healthcare through quality improvement / Kevin Fiscella -- 9. Eliminating racial discrimination in healthcare: a call for state healthcare anti-discrimination law / Vernellia R. Randall -- 10. Quality of care and health disparities: the evolving role of government / Garth N. Graham -- 11. The role of communities in eliminating healthcare disparities: getting down to the grass roots / JudyAnn Bigby -- 12. The potential impact of performance incentive programs on racial disparities in healthcare / Alyna T. Chien -- IV. Examples of what works -- 13. Monitoring socioeconomic determinants for healthcare disparities: tools from the Public Health Disparities Geocoding Project / Nancy Krieger ... [et a.] -- 14. The Association of Black Cardiologists: a small-group success story / Richard Allen Williams -- 15. Breathe easy in Seattle: addressing asthma disparities through healthier housing / James W. Krieger ... [et al.] -- 16. Access Health Solutions: a minority physician network model that works / Kathy B. Jackson -- 17. Carolinas Association for Community Health Equity-CACHE: a community coalition to address health disparities in racial and ethnic minorities in Mecklenburg County North Carolina / Yele Aluko -- V. Concluding recommendations -- 18. Principles for eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare / John Z. Ayanian and Richard Allen Williams Front Matter....Pages i-xxviii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Historical Perspectives of Healthcare Disparities....Pages 3-19 Epidemiology of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health and Healthcare....Pages 21-40 Cultural Diversity in Medicine and in Healthcare Delivery....Pages 41-64 Front Matter....Pages 65-65 Healthcare and the Politics of Race....Pages 67-82 Barriers to Eliminating Disparities in Clinical Practice....Pages 83-97 Second-Class Medicine....Pages 99-120 The Diversity Benefit....Pages 121-137 Front Matter....Pages 139-139 Eliminating Disparities in Healthcare Through Quality Improvement....Pages 141-178 Eliminating Racial Discrimination in Healthcare....Pages 179-196 Quality of Care and Health Disparities....Pages 197-219 The Role of Communities in Eliminating Healthcare Disparities....Pages 221-236 The Potential Impact of Performance Incentive Programs on Racial Disparities in Healthcare....Pages 237-256 Front Matter....Pages 257-257 Monitoring Socioeconomic Determinants for Healthcare Disparities....Pages 259-306 The Association of Black Cardiologists....Pages 307-312 Breathe Easy in Seattle....Pages 313-339 Access Health Solutions....Pages 341-363 Carolinas Association for Community Health Equity-CACHE....Pages 365-374 Front Matter....Pages 375-375 Principles for Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare....Pages 377-389 Back Matter....Pages 391-398 Over the past thirty years, the development of the Western blot has revolutionized the fields of biomedical research and medical diagnostics. In Protein Blotting and Detection: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers present numerous techniques based on the Western blot, providing detailed, readily reproducible methods, tips, and alternatives directly and easily transferable to the laboratory setting. Chapters offer a large number of variations on the theme of protein transfer to solid support followed by detection, presenting adaptations of traditional techniques as well as completely original methods of protein blotting. Composed in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, each chapter contains a brief introduction, a list of necessary materials, step-by-step methods, and a Notes section which shares tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Innovative and highly practical, Protein Blotting and Detection: Methods and Protocols is an essential, hands-on guide for all investigators who hope to bring these cutting-edge procedures home to their laboratories In this book, Dr. Richard Allen Williams has assembled the very best scholars on healthcare disparities to raise the public consciousness of this issue. Arranged into discrete categories, this volume contains comprehensive coverage, both historical and current, of the healthcare disparity crisis currently plaguing our country in hopes of leading us all to a brighter future.