"Racial Disparities Persist Among Palliative Patients with Kidney Disease" - Jim Parker
Patients of color suffering from advanced kidney disease are underrepresented among palliative care patients, recent research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has found. Outreach to these communities can improve patients’ quality of life as well as expand providers’ market penetration. “The causes for these disparities are only suggested with indirect evidence. Therefore, further study is needed to determine if the aforementioned and other factors are contributing to these disparities,” said author Lili Chan, MD, assistant professor of medicine and nephrology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Potential interventions include increasing diversity in the workforce and institution of unconscious bias and diversity training. In addition, ensuring continuity of care to improve patients’ satisfaction, improving cultural sensitivity as well as improving coverage for certain inpatient hospice services by non-private insurance may also help to address these disparities.”
— Lili Chan, MD, Assistant Professor, Medicine, Nephrology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai