ER-Forum Blog

The U.S. Census report on Diversity: is health care keeping up?

By Wesley A. Curry, MD

Almost a decade before health care reform is scheduled to be completed, the United States is on the verge of a powerful demographic tectonic shift. One that’s impossible to stop.

We’re becoming a nation of minorities.

While the focus of discussion today in health care reform has been on the complexity, cost, and manpower issues of health care reform, it’s clear the diversity of the population in the near future will also be a major factor.

Conor Dougherty has reported on this population trend in a very insightful article. The graph below is based on data from the Census Bureau which shows the top ten states where the population has reached or soon will reach the status of a “majority of minorities”.

What does this mean to future emergency health care manpower issues? Will the health care providers in the next 20 years reflect the diversity in a population of majority minorities which is likely to be a reality as early as 2011? Will health care reform mandate that new job creation be distributed to all “minorities” in this new majority, i.e. a requirement for a more diverse health care workforce?  Does any of it matter?

Increasing racial and ethnic diversity among health care professionals is important because evidence indicates that diversity is associated with improved access to care for racial and ethnic minority patients, greater patient choice and satisfaction, and better educational experiences for health professions students, among many other benefits. 

Many groups have worked to increase the preparation and motivation of underrepresented minority students to enter health care careers. But there’s more work to be done.

As part of a recent panel discussion sponsored by San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, it was agreed that the state of California’s health care workforce has failed to keep up with its increasingly diversified population. According to the speakers, diversity in California health care professionals has remained flat for years. In fact, about half of the students entering California medical schools are from upper-income backgrounds, with less than 6% coming from families in the nation’s lowest income group.

Diversity is an issue that virtually all businesses must grapple with, and health care is no exception. In fact, I would propose that diversity in health care needs to be embraced as a major focus.  A more diverse health care workforce will enable better communication and care for underserved groups. It will help our “minority majorities” (including women) climb the ladder to attain management positions. And it could very well lead to new ideas and business/clinical practices that come with fresh thinking.

So as we see health care reform evolve over the next several years, I look forward to the issue of diversity in medicine becoming a larger and more important discussion. It’s an issue whose time has certainly come.

What are your thoughts on diversity in health care? Please share your views.