Not Acknowledging Differences Makes Minorities Sicker

Take four patients in New York City–one white, one black, one Asian, and one Hispanic–all in need of surgery, with the same insurance coverage and in similar overall health. A study published in this month’s issue of Archives of Surgery concludes that the white patient’s chance of surgical success will be higher. According to the authors,

Minority patients in New York City are doubly disadvantaged in their surgical care; they are substantially less likely to use both high-volume hospitals and surgeons for procedures with an established volume-mortality association.

Why would ethnic minorities with the same insurance coverage as whites be less likely to choose hospitals and surgeons with the best track records? The study calls for further inquiries into how minority patients select health care providers. But one answer seems to be that minorities have trouble accessing information about health care options–a problem not only for the patients themselves, but for the employers who often end up paying higher health costs in the long run as a result.

This study bears witness to my argument in The Inclusion Paradox that when it comes to helping employees use job benefits such as health care, we need to get past the one-size-fits-all mentality that’s grounded in the views and preferences of the majority group. There I discuss how not integrating minority worldviews and communication styles into what’s said and read at work can leave minority employees without an adequate understanding of their options–and how diversifying workplace communication can better reach members of the majority as well.

 

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