Healthcare Disparities at the Crossroads with Healthcare Reform

Building upon the success of Dr. Williams's widely influential book Eliminating Healthcare Disparities in America: Beyond the IOM Report, this new volume takes a fresh and timely look at the state of healthcare reform and the progress and problems we face in the pursuit of healthcare equality. This book focuses on how the elimination of disparities can be accomplished through targeted efforts made within the context of reform. Comprising the combined efforts of the nation's best health policy analysts, researchers, key opinion leaders and clinicians, this book addresses both current and impending legislation and future movements in healthcare. With the knowledge that the problem of disparities extends beyond the present political arena into the larger scope of all aspects of healthcare delivery, the authors provide critical analysis of the causation of disparities, insightful examples of what has worked, and a striking call to action with implementable strategies for advancing equality. Front Matter....Pages i-xxxii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Introduction: An Overview of the US Healthcare System and US Health Disparities at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century....Pages 3-6 Historical Perspectives of Healthcare Disparities: Is the Past Prologue?....Pages 7-21 Epidemiologic Profiles of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health and Health Care....Pages 23-39 Cultural Diversity in Medicine: Health Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities....Pages 41-68 Front Matter....Pages 69-69 Perspective: Health Care and the Politics of Race....Pages 71-84 Perspective: The Spectrum of Health-care Disparities in the USA....Pages 85-95 Perspective: Barriers to Eliminating Disparities in Clinical Practice – Lessons from the IOM Report “Unequal Treatment”....Pages 97-114 Perspective: Second-Class Medicine – Implications of Evidence-Based Medicine for Improving Minority Access to Health Care....Pages 115-134 Perspective: The Compelling Need for Health Literacy....Pages 135-142 Front Matter....Pages 143-143 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Overview of the Health Reform Law and Its Impact on Health-Care Disparities....Pages 145-165 The Diversity Benefit: How Does Diversity Among Health Professionals Address Public Needs?....Pages 167-193 The Role of Communities in Eliminating Health Disparities: Getting Down to the Grass Roots....Pages 195-209 The Potential Impact of Performance Incentive Programs on Racial Disparities in Health Care....Pages 211-229 Eliminating Disparities in Health Care Through Quality Improvement....Pages 231-267 Monitoring Socioeconomic Determinants for Healthcare Disparities: Tools from the Public Health Disparities Geocoding Project....Pages 269-312 Perspective: Title VI, Healthcare Reform, and the Need for a State Antidiscrimination Law....Pages 313-328 Quality of Care and Health Disparities: The Evolving Role of the Government....Pages 329-349 The Association of Black Cardiologists: A Small-Group Success Story in Addressing Healthcare Disparities....Pages 351-357 Breathing Easier in Seattle: Addressing Asthma Disparities Through Healthier Housing....Pages 359-383 Breast and Prostate Cancer Healthcare Disparities....Pages 385-397 Front Matter....Pages 143-143 The Role of Health IT in Eliminating Health Disparities....Pages 399-412 Remote Area Medical ® : Pioneers of No-Cost Health Care....Pages 413-420 Principles for Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care Under Healthcare Reform....Pages 421-432 Back Matter....Pages 433-445