Ayanian to NAM committee for racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAM) has appointed John Ayanian, M.D., M.P.P., professor of internal medicine, to a special committee that will examine the current state of racial and ethnic healthcare disparities in the U.S.  

NASEM will conduct a scoping review of the literature on racial and ethnic healthcare disparities in the years since the Unequal Treatment report (1992-2002) and the present. This task will also provide a comprehensive status update on the implementation of the IOM report recommendations, as well as whether specific healthcare disparities have improved, remained the same, or worsened. The topics will include but are not limited to:

• Societal factors such as bias, racism, discrimination, intersectionality, and stereotyping at the individual (clinical and non-clinical staff), interpersonal, institutional, and health system levels.
• Technology factors, such as bias in diagnostic tools and algorithms used in clinical practice and decision-making, and variability in access to broad band internet and other telecommunication technologies, as well as digital inequality
• Geographic factors, such as variability in the social determinants of health and access to both social services, (including those not directly related to health care), language, and health care services for acute and chronic conditions in different communities
• Policy factors, such as federal and state laws and regulations and public health programs
• Health care factors, such as the coverage and design of health plans, institutional or clinic-based access, and the demographic and specialty profile of the clinical workforce
• The impact of clinical training and education in perpetuating disparities, and ways to improve training, enhance cultural competency, and diversify the health care workforce.
• The committee will also consider ways to scale and spread effective interventions to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care.
   

Announcement adapted from NAM