Racial disparities in health-care access, quality and outcomes are pervasive and persistent. Racism is a fundamental driver of racial disparities. Individuals and institutions in the health-care system must prioritize addressing racism as their professional responsibility through training, support and inclusion.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Power calculation for detecting interaction effect in cross-sectional stepped-wedge cluster randomized trials: an important tool for disparity research
BMC Medical Research Methodology Open Access 02 March 2024
-
Racial Concordance on Healthcare Use within Hispanic Population Subgroups
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Open Access 21 July 2023
-
Weighing in: qualitative explorations of weight restoration as recovery in anorexia nervosa
Journal of Eating Disorders Open Access 31 January 2023
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 1 digital issues and online access to articles
$99.00 per year
only $99.00 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
2018 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report. AHRQ. https://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqdr18/index.html (2019).
Smith, K. A., Gehricke, J.-G., Iadarola, S., Wolfe, A. & Kuhlthau, K. A. Disparities in service use among children with autism: a systematic review. Pediatrics 145, S35–S46 (2020).
Singh, J. A., Lu, X., Rosenthal, G. E., Ibrahim, S. & Cram, P. Racial disparities in knee and hip total joint arthroplasty: an 18-year analysis of national Medicare data. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 73, 2107–2115 (2014).
Lam, M. B. et al. Changes in racial disparities in mortality after cancer surgery in the US, 2007-2016. JAMA Netw. Open 3, e2027415 (2020).
Mateo, C. M. & Williams, D. R. Addressing bias & reducing discrimination: the professional responsibility of healthcare providers. Acad. Med. 95, S5–S10 (2020).
Williams, D. R., Mohammed, S. A., Leavell, J. & Collins, C. Race, socioeconomic status and health: complexities, ongoing challenges and research opportunities. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1186, 69–101 (2010).
Mateo, C. M. & Williams, D. R. More than words: a vision to address bias and reduce discrimination in the health professions learning environment. Acad. Med. 95, S169–S177.
Williams, D. R., Lawrence, J. A. & Davis, B. A. Racism and health: evidence and needed research. Annu. Rev. Public Health. 40, 105–125 (2019).
White, K., Haas, J. S. & Williams, D. R. Elucidating the role of place in health care disparities: the example of racial/ethnic residential segregation. Health Serv Res. 43, 1278–1299 (2012).
Boyd, R. W., Lindo, E. G., Weeks, L. D. & McLemore, M. R. On racism: a new standard for publishing on racial health inequities. Health Affairs Blog. https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200630.939347/full/ (2020).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mateo, C.M., Williams, D.R. Racism: a fundamental driver of racial disparities in health-care quality. Nat Rev Dis Primers 7, 20 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-021-00258-1
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-021-00258-1
This article is cited by
-
Power calculation for detecting interaction effect in cross-sectional stepped-wedge cluster randomized trials: an important tool for disparity research
BMC Medical Research Methodology (2024)
-
Change the People or Change the Policy? On the Moral Education of Antiracists
Ethical Theory and Moral Practice (2024)
-
Examining Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Tobacco Dependence Treatment Among Medicaid Beneficiaries Using Fifty State Medicaid Claims, 2009–2014
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2024)
-
Racial Disparities in Opioid Administration Practices Among Undifferentiated Abdominal Pain Patients in the Emergency Department
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2024)
-
Weighing in: qualitative explorations of weight restoration as recovery in anorexia nervosa
Journal of Eating Disorders (2023)