Racial disparities in surgical care

"As a practicing surgeon for 30 years in the super-specialized field of otology, neurotology and skull base surgery, I have been privy to some of the most disturbing realities of surgical care. Often, these realities are bleaker than most people expect. One thing physicians, and the general population, need to be more aware of is the very real racial disparity in surgical care.

Are the outcomes for Black and Hispanic patients truly different than white patients when it comes to surgery? The answer is an astounding yes. Are the differences related to other factors such as socioeconomic class, insurance status, gender, income, extent of disease at presentation or other comorbidities? Even when controlling for many of these factors, racial disparities in the delivery of surgical care persist."

Sanjay Prasad is a surgeon and founder, SurgiQuality.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "The bleak reality of racial disparity in surgical care." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/08/the-bleak-reality-of-racial-disparity-in-surgical-care.html)