Race and the Patient-Physician Relationship in 2021

Abstract

Although nearly 50 years have passed since the article entitled "Does Race Interfere With the Doctor-Patient Relationship?" was published in JAMA in 1973, the question is as relevant today as it was then. 1,2 In some ways, many aspects of health care and society have changed, yet in other important ways they have not. There has been progress in stretching the umbrella of health care coverage, access, and quality for more people in the United States than at any other time in US history, and yet, medicine still struggles with how to advance health equity, quash racist beliefs and biases in the profession, and reform racist systems and structures that have created, perpetuated, and exacerbated the health inequities that continue and are experienced by many in US society. If ever there were a time to reexamine the patient-physician relationship thoughtfully and critically, it is today, as the national and global medical community strives to emerge on the other side of a global pandemic.

Analysis of the Patient-Physician Relationship, Race, and Pain Control and Physical Function Among Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain

“…However, many questions regarding race and the patient-physician relationship remain largely unanswered today. 2 Moreover, the degree to which the patient-physician relationship affects racial health disparities remains unclear. Pain is one area wherein racial health disparities have been documented.…”

The Reporting of Race and Ethnicity in Medical and Science Journals

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For many years and increasingly in the last year, JAMA and the JAMA Network journals have published many important articles addressing disparities and racism in medical education, research, and health care [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and highlighting initiatives to help address deep-rooted inequities. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] In these articles, as in others, terminology, usage, and word choice are critically important, especially when describing people and when discussing race and ethnicity.

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Utilization of nonguideline concordant antibiotic treatment following acute otitis media in children in the United States

“…Improving health equity for racial and ethnic minority populations will require education and policy solutions, including the recognition and reduction of implicit bias among healthcare providers. 28,29 We also observed geographic variability in nonguideline concordant antibiotic use for AOM, including more frequent use among rural versus urban patients. Given distance-to-healthcare barriers for rural patients, it is possible that clinicians may justify prescribing broadspectrum agents to avoid future treatment failure-related healthcare encounters.…”

“…While these racial and ethnic minority populations experience slightly lower nonguideline concordant prescribing by agent and duration, they still experience substantial inappropriate prescribing. Improving health equity for racial and ethnic minority populations will require education and policy solutions, including the recognition and reduction of implicit bias among healthcare providers 28,29 …”