My organization, the National Hispanic Medical Association, is committed to improving the health of Hispanics and other underserved. We support policies that will reform public health and medical services to decrease health care disparities and improve the health status of vulnerable groups. The National Disparities Report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that our community has the worst access and quality care compared to non-Hispanics in the nation.

Evidence-based public health and medicine strategies are necessary to decrease variation of service delivery that impacts and rations care to Latinos, especially in our poor neighborhoods. Medical treatment should be based on comparative effectiveness value of treatment strategies that produce the greatest benefit for the Hispanic community at the lowest cost. We recognize that comparative effectiveness research is about value in health care. We also heed the concerns of those who have warned to beware of a “one size fits all” approach that could decrease access to treatments for minority patients. However, NHMA believes that comparative effectiveness research will add to the body of knowledge for reducing health disparities for 1) physicians to use to improve quality care for patients; as well as 2) for administrators to use to improve health systems for delivery in following priority areas:

1. Cultural competence and health literacy research in order to ultimately change behaviors and improve lifestyle in our communities
2. Effective ways of communicating with Hispanic patients and their families
3. Knowledge about health disparities interventions between hospital systems and clinics that have longstanding experience with Hispanic physicians and their patients
4. Innovative research targeted to Hispanic patients and their families
5. Integrated case that is outcomes based – and with mental health and oral health as well as physical health

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 10:32 am and is filed under Comparative Effectiveness Research, Disparities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.