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Quality: Study on race disparities draws protest

Healthcare Strategist Trend Watch, March 31, 2006

A Rand Corporation study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that Americans-regardless of race or demographic differences-get roughly the same healthcare treatment. The survey examined whether the people studied received the highest standard of treatment for 439 measures, including common chronic and acute conditions and disease prevention. It also looked at whether the patients received the correct tests, drugs, and treatments. Overall, the results were mediocre, with all patients receiving only 55% of the recommended steps for top-quality care. Blacks and Hispanics each received 58% of the best care, compared to 54% for whites.

Since the study was published in mid-March, a coalition of critics, including health advocates, federal legislators, and prominent researchers, have come forward to protest the findings, citing more than 600 peer-reviewed studies that contradict the Rand study's findings and urging the journal to take seriously race-based disparities in healthcare.

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