http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/45/11/3178.full
+ Author Affiliations
- Correspondence to Lewis B. Morgenstern, MD, University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, Room 3194, 1500 East Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. E-mail Lmorgens@umich.edu
See related article, p 3243.
In 2003, the Institute of Medicine published Unequal Treatment, a groundbreaking indictment of bias and discrimination in medical care in the United States.1
In addition to the copious data documenting race/ethnic health
disparities and the deleterious effects of overt and perceived
discrimination, the Institute of Medicine set
forth several suggestions to remedy this unconscionable state of
affairs. Among
these were the use of quality measures and
organized means to deliver high quality medical care to all patients
regardless
of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. In
the United States, The Joint Commission’s certification of primary and
comprehensive
stroke centers seeks to promote this
evidence-based approach to providing consistent, high quality medical
care to all patients.
In the present issue of Stroke, Xian et al2
use the remarkably comprehensive Get with the Guidelines (GWTG)
database to answer questions about the association of race/ethnicity,
quality measures, and intracerebral hemorrhage
(ICH) outcome in the United States. The article suggests that minority
populations
(African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian
Americans) are cared for with at least the same, if not better, quality
and have
decreased in-hospital mortality, despite worse
initial stroke severity compared with non-Hispanic whites. This is all
welcome
news in a country where stroke disparities are
well documented.3 But should we celebrate this as a victory?
Full text at link.
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