Nearly half of health care workers in the United States have witnessed discrimination against minority patients in the workplace in medical centers and hospitals, according to a report released Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund and the African American Research Collaborative.
Employees at healthcare facilities with a high percentage of Black or Latino patients witnessed higher rates of racism, according to the report, which finds that 52% say racism against patients is a crisis or major problem.
Black or Latino workers and young people are more likely than older workers and whites to report having witnessed an incident of this type.
The report, “Inequalities Uncovered: Healthcare Workers' Observations of Discrimination Against Patients,” is based on a survey of more than 3,000 healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, and dentists, across the United States. understand the effect that discrimination has on health professionals and their patients.
In hospitals with a majority of black patients, 70% of workers reported seeing discrimination against patients because of their race or ethnicity.
In the case of centers with a majority of Latino patients, that proportion was 61%.
But if the center received a majority of white patients, the percentage was reduced to 43%.
Nearly half, 48%, believe medical providers are more tolerant when white patients tell their cases and make complaints than when black patients do the same.
Racism also extends to the treatment these workers receive, the report notes.
44% of these workers claim to have observed that one of their colleagues has been a victim of discrimination.
Most Black professionals (58%) and more than four in ten Latino (49%) and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI, 44%) professionals indicate they have been discriminated against in the workplace because of their race or ethnicity.
Although most healthcare workers see positive efforts by employers to address discrimination, most Black, Latinx, and AAPI healthcare workers are concerned about retaliation if they report discrimination issues.
The report recommends a series of steps to tackle discrimination, from creating a system to report cases of discrimination anonymously to including the necessary training to identify racism in professional training courses.
“Understanding what healthcare workers experience, and what they want and need from their employers and colleagues to take action against discrimination, is critical to successful and sustainable change,” said Laurie Zephyrin, executive vice president of the program. Advancing Health Equity of the Commonwealth Fund and co-author of the study.