Knowing if a patient is Indigenous can be key to improving their care
An article published in 2010 in the New England Journal of Medicine advocated the collection of data on the race and ethnic groups of patients by medical practices in the United States. This was part of an initiative to computerise medical records and broaden the collection of demographic data. The authors suggested that such data could be used to detect health disparities, optimise the effectiveness of quality improvement interventions, and generate more reliable data on quality of care and outreach to patients. According to the authors, the “most common and strongest objection” was that doctors (and other practice staff) believed that “knowing a patient’s race and ethnic group is, or should be, clinically irrelevant”.1
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- 1. Wynia MK, Ivey SL, Hasnain-Wynia R. Collection of data on patients’ race and ethnic group by physician practices. N Engl J Med 2010; 362: 846-850.
- 2. Kehoe H, Lovett RW. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessments — barriers to improving uptake. Aust Fam Physician 2008; 37: 1033-1038.
- 3. Kelaher M, Dunt D, Thomas D, Anderson I. Comparison of the uptake of health assessment items for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians: implications for policy. Aust New Zealand Health Policy 2005; 2: 21.
- 4. Kelaher MA, Parry A, Day SE, et al. Improving the identification of Indigenous people in mainstream general practice. Melbourne: Cooperative Research Centre for Indigenous Health, 2010. www.lowitja.org.au/files/docs/Identification_report_Kelaher2010.pdf (accessed Mar 2012).
- 5. Campbell SM, Roland MO, Buetow SA. Defining quality of care. Soc Sci Med 2000; 51: 1611-1625.
- 6. Washington DL, Bowles J, Saha S, et al; Society of General Internal Medicine, Disparities in Health Task Force. Transforming clinical practice to eliminate racial–ethnic disparities in healthcare. J Gen Intern Med 2008; 23: 685-691.
- 7. Scotney A, Guthrie JA, Lokuge K, Kelly PM. “Just ask!” Identifying as Indigenous in mainstream general practice settings: a consumer perspective [letter]. Med J Aust 2010; 192: 609. <MJA full text>
The research on which this perspective was based was conducted for the Lowitja Institute and funded by the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute. Margaret Kelaher is funded by an Australian Research Council Futures Fellowship.
No relevant disclosures.