Black, Hispanic Doctors See Much Larger Proportion of Medicaid Patients

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Latino and Black family doctors are more likely to hang their shingle in their old neighborhood and care for the less fortunate, researchers report.

The new findings, which also showed these doctors were more likely to take on Medicaid patients than white or Asian doctors, support previous studies that show minority doctors are more likely to return to communities of color and set up a practice, they added.

“Our research suggests Black and Latino family medicine doctors play a crucial role in providing health care for people living in marginalized communities,” said lead investigator Anushree Vichare, a researcher at the George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, in Washington, D.C.

People living in such communities are more likely to suffer from chronic disease, but have traditionally had less access to health care, researchers noted.

“We must redouble our efforts to increase the number of Black and Latinos going into medical school, as well as develop strategies that would help others who are underrepresented in the physician workforce enter the profession and thrive,” Vichare added in a university news release.

For the study, researchers analyzed national claims data to assess the likelihood that doctors of different backgrounds would take patients covered by Medicaid, the federal/state health insurance program for the poor.

Some doctors don’t participate in Medicaid because the payment rates are much lower than those provided by private insurance. Doctors also complain that there’s too much red tape in Medicaid, making it tough to file for payment.

The study, published Sept. 23 in the Annals of Family Medicine, results suggest that developing a more diverse workforce of family doctors could help reduce health inequities in the United States.

“Building a more diverse and representative health workforce leads to better healthcare for all and is also imperative from a social justice standpoint,” Vichare said.

“We, as a society must ensure that individuals underrepresented in medicine are given fair and equal opportunities to pursue medical degrees,” Vichare added. “It is also essential to foster an inclusive culture within healthcare institutions that values ​​diversity and promotes retention and professional growth of diverse staff.”

Big disparity in the number of Latino doctors and surgeons