Pro Bono: Culturally Competent Healthcare

Patients of color face barriers when seeking care, leading to disparities in health outcomes. One part of the solution is diversifying the patient-physician experience.

The U.S. Healthcare System Has an Inequality Problem

There is a disparity in both care and health outcomes for minority groups in the United States. The Black and Latinx communities experience 30%-40% poorer health outcomes than white patients across all medical interventions — even when insurance status, income, age and severity of condition are comparable¹. These disparities include more premature deaths, higher maternal mortality rates, and increased cases of illness such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and COVID-19.

To better understand what’s going on, there are two useful lenses through which to view the overall healthcare market landscape: patients and physicians. The Black and brown patient and physician populations are specific focus areas.

Disparity in Healthcare Lays a Large Cost Burden on Society

Inequality of health outcomes for Black and brown patients not only goes against our nation’s identity and values, but it also carries a significant economic cost. This cost is felt by patients, physicians, healthcare providers, employers and insurers/payors. These disparities cost healthcare payers alone an estimated $331 billion in economic losses between 2008 and 2018⁵. The total cost to society is difficult to quantify but is certainly material. The system is ripe for improvement.