Articles related to HEALTHCARE DISPARITIES

A cohort study of 1,024 patients at an urban academic medical center discovered that 13% of oral anticancer drug prescriptions were never filled. The most common reason for failure to receive an oral anticancer drug prescription was due to patient and clinician decision-making; 13% of cases of failure to receive an oral anticancer drug prescription were directly associated with financial access issues.

In this retrospective cross-sectional study of patients hospitalized for suspected infection, temporal temperature measurement was associated with a lower odds of detecting fever compared with oral measurement in Black patients but not white patients. “Health care systems routinely use fever cutoffs to trigger notification pathways such as sepsis alerts to systematize timely triage and antibiotic administration. Although the absolute difference between oral and temporal temperatures was small, the findings suggest that this discrepancy combined with commonly used fever cutoffs may lead to fever going undetected in many Black patient.” Sivasubramanium V. Bhavani, MD

An update of Simone’s Maxims that include the lived experiences of medical professionals who identify as women, under-represented groups in medicine (UrIM), or who have several underrepresented identities and who face many hurdles in academic medicine is necessary in light of the realities of contemporary medicine.

More than one-third of US hematologists and oncologists and one-quarter of all practicing doctors in the US are international medical graduates (IMGs). IMGs, which include both US citizens and legal permanent residents as well as foreigners, are classified as doctors who have completed medical school outside of the US and Canada. IMGs frequently encounter considerable obstacles when applying for fellowships and residencies.

In a 2021 poll conducted by West Health and Gallup, 7% of American respondents said they had difficulty paying for at least one prescription drug in the previous three months. The same survey also found that 1 in 10 Americans had skipped medication doses in the previous year in order to save money. The well-known billionaire Mark Cuban is aiming to alter that with the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, which will lower the cost and provide access to hundreds of prescriptions for people all around the nation. “Everyone should have safe, affordable medicines with transparent prices.” Mark Cuban

According to experts, one of the most important strategies for tackling the psychiatrist shortage is to assist primary care physicians in treating patients with mental illness, as the US anticipates a projected shortfall of 14,280 to 31,109 psychiatrists due to the fact that over 150 million people reside in places where there is a nationally acknowledged lack of mental health professionals.