Although racism and bias have been long documented issues affecting health equity, findings of a recent study published in Health Affairs indicates these issues may be more embedded in the US health care system than originally thought.

Examining electronic health records (EHRs) from an urban academic medical center, researchers found that negative descriptors were significantly more likely to appear in the records of Black patients compared with White patients. Other factors—such as insurance type, marriage status, and even the COVID-19 pandemic—influenced the odds of having this potentially stigmatizing language appear in a patient’s EHR.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with the first author on the study, Michael Sun, a medical student at the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago, on the findings, as well as the steps that can be taken to increase awareness among clinicians of these stigmatizing descriptors.

How Patient Descriptors Influence Racial Bias in the Electronic Health Record

Science

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To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. Welcome to our final episode of this limited series and our conversation with Janine Jelks-Seale, MSPPM, director of health equity at UPMC Health Plan.

Tackling Health Inequality: The Power of Education and Experience

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the University of Pennsylvania's Ravi Parikh, MD, MPP, and Aaron Schwartz, MD, PhD, 2 authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®.

Their study, "Trends in Low-Value Cancer Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic," discusses how rates of low-value cancer services among adults with newly diagnosed cancer persisted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

How Patient Descriptors Influence Racial Bias in the Electronic Health Record

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