Study: Latino, Black Physicians Needed to Eliminate Disparities



Blacks and Hispanics make up more than 25% of the U.S. population, but only 15% of doctors. More than 54% of African American, Hispanic and Asian patients select or depend on physicians of color for their care, making it critical for physicians from these backgrounds to provide medical care in the nation’s most racially and culturally diverse communities, according to a new study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The study also notes: 70% of non-English-speaking patients received care from African American, Hispanic or Asian physicians. Asian, Hispanic and Black patients were also found to be 19 to 26 times more likely to be cared for by physicians of their same race. Low-income patients were one-and-a-half to two times more likely to be cared for by Black, ...

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Report: Racial/Ethnic Disparities Remain in Breast Cancer Rates



Breast cancer rates increased slightly for African American women, decreased for Latinas, and remained unchanged for white, Asian American, and American Indian/Alaska Native women from 2006-2010, the most recent five-year span of available data, according to a new report by the American Cancer Society (ACS). Overall, breast cancer incidence rates are highest in white women, followed by African American women, while breast cancer death rates are highest for African American women, followed by white women, according to 2013-14 Breast Cancer Facts and Figures, which provides updated cancer research facts about breast cancer, including incidence, mortality, and survival trends for breast cancer, as well as information on early detection, treatment, and factors that influence risk and ...

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