The study used data from the Urban Institute’s nationally representative Health Reform Monitoring Survey, which surveyed 9,067 adults in 2021.
The analysis shows the effects of a health-care workforce that has historically placed high barriers to entry for people of color. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, despite strides in admissions in recent decades, fewer than 12 percent of U.S. physicians identify as Black or Hispanic, and just 2.9 percent of medical students are Black men.
What will it take to change the balance for patients of color? Improving access to medical education through historically Black colleges and universities is one suggestion; another is increasing financial aid. Medical interpretation could bridge the gap, too, as could rewarding multilingual providers.
Until then, however, those disparities in the doctor’s office will be a reality for a majority of people of color.
“Trust is part of the foundation of good patient-provider relationships and is especially important for communities of color, who have long been discriminated against in healthcare,” Jacquelynn Orr, a program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funded the study, said in a statement. “Having a provider who looks like you and shares your experiences builds trust.”
