Summer 2000 OCR UPdate - 1OCR Tackles Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care
OCR continues to play an active role in the Department's Initiative to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health. Recent studies have documented troubling disparities in the health status of racial and ethnic minorities, and have shown that discrimination is one of the root causes of disparities.
These studies and OCR's enforcement experience have demonstrated that eliminating disparities is both a civil rights and a public health challenge. Over the past several months, OCR has been heavily involved in the overall effort to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities.
Within the Department, OCR has collaborated with a number of offices. For instance, OCR is working closely with the Office of Minority Health on cultural competency issues. Surgeon General David Satcher has been instrumental in highlighting the need for aggressive civil rights enforcement as part of a coordinated strategy. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has provided substantial assistance to OCR on difficult data issues.
Our regional offices have been involved in a steady diet of disparities-related work. In Chicago, for instance, a Region V team is conducting an investigation focused on disparities in kidney transplant programs.
In New York, OCR has taken the lead in a variety of disparities-related activities. On the investigative front, OCR has been collecting and analyzing critical data pertaining to specific health care facilities in an effort to gain a better understanding of the root causes of apparent disparities.
Equally important, OCR has been heavily involved in a variety of outreach and technical assistance activities. For instance, Region II has developed a self-assessment tool for providers to assist them in ensuring that their facility is able to meet the challenge of serving a diverse population.
Late last year, OCR's New York office convened a day-long meeting bringing together a wide array of health care leaders from state and county medical societies, medical schools, local and state health departments, major area hospitals, foundations and research organizations. The meeting, conducted in conjunction with the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA), included key remarks from GNYHA President Kenneth Raske; DHHS Assistant Secretary Margaret Hamburg, M.D.; OCR Director Tom Perez; Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health Nathan Stinson, Jr., M.D.; and Regional Director Alison Greene. Several health care experts, including Drs. Kevin Schulman of Georgetown University, Francesca Gany of the New York University School of Medicine, Bruce Vladeck of Mount Sinai Hospital, and Gerald Thomson of the Presbyterian Hospital, also made presentations.
Following the meeting, two key institutions, the GNYHA and the New York Academy of Medicine (an organization of medical, academic and legal health care professionals) convened working groups committed to developing effective strategies for tackling issues such as cultural competency in health care delivery and providing services to limited English proficient patients. These working groups continue to meet on a regular basis.
In addition, the GNYHA and the New York Task Force on Immigrant Health (with financial assistance from the United Hospital Fund and the New York Community Trust) have joined forces in an effort to develop further a promising model of translation services that combines wireless remote technology and a cadre of well-trained interpreters. This collaboration is a direct outgrowth of last year's meeting.
OCR is also working with The Institute for Urban Family Health, a New York City-based family practice organization. The Institute is one of 32 groups nationwide that received a planning grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to address racial disparities in health outcomes in the Southwest Bronx. The goal of the Institute's REACH 2010 Project is to decrease the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Overall, substantial progress is being made in New York and elsewhere, but considerable work lies ahead. Kudos to Michael Carter, New York Regional Manager, for leading OCR's compliance and outreach efforts in this arena.
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