LOS ANGELES — Are more African Americans dying under the current COVID-19 triage system of health care treatment?
Rubix Life Sciences, a Massachusetts-based health research and development firm, used patient billing information from seven states to analyze the number of African Americans who were referred for COVID-19 testing.
The underlying health conditions that many African Americans suffer from, also play a major role in doctors’ triage decisions throughout the United States.
In response to how to begin addressing African American health care disparities, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) provided general guidelines including the standardization of protocols especially in facilities that serve large minority populations; Identifying and addressing implicit bias that could hinder patient-provider interaction and communication; reducing cultural barriers to care; connecting patients with community resources; and learning about social and economic conditions that may put some patients at higher risk for getting sick with COVID-19.
According to Williams, the fact that doctors and administrators making life and death decisions on COVID-19 care are white and the majority of the patients are African American, makes the remedy to the disparity in care difficult.
