Quality & Patient Safety

Greater racial segregation often means less outpatient surgical services for minorities

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, June 17, 2009

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A new study from the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS) shows that in more racially segregated U.S. counties, there are often less outpatient surgical services available for the minority population. The researchers hypothesized that this would be true, and that with greater segregation and less access to surgical care, there would also be increased rates of visits to emergency departments.

Researchers surveyed each county in the U.S. and divided them into three categories—most, moderately, and least segregated. They found that in those counties that fell into the "most segregated" category, for each percentage point increase in the African American or Hispanic population, there was a decrease in access and availability of surgeons, ambulatory surgery centers, and the numbers of outpatient surgery performed.

To read more, click here to find the JACS abstract.



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