tions, and involve and empower them to meaningfully participate?
Increasingly, the answer may be critical to the future of your organiza-
tion. Thanks to changing demographics, evolving reimbursement poli-
cy, workforce challenges and a more competitive marketplace, diver-
sity is now not just a moral issue, but an existential economic one.
Here's why.
America is changing.
Nearly 40% of all Americans now belong to a minority group, and that
percentage is growing quickly. Close to 15% of the population is for-
eign-born; that number will grow to 19% by 2060. More than 20% of
Americans speak a language other than English at home. Almost 6% of
our citizens adhere to a religion other than Christianity, and 5% of our
citizens identify as LGBTQ. The market is increasingly diverse for all
but a few healthcare facilities.
Right now, many healthcare organizations fall woefully short in their
efforts to serve patients who are diverse in their racial, religious, lin-
guistic, and sexual and gender identities.
One reason is that even in our best medical facilities, some workers
have unconscious or unintentional biases toward racially diverse indi-
viduals. Studies show that African American patients are less likely
than Caucasian patients to receive needed medications or surgical
procedures, even when they present with conditions identical to those
of white patients. Many suffer as a result.
We know that our service to many patients of color can negatively
impact patient experience, lead to poor outcomes and exacerbate
health disparities. A Hospital Quality Institute study of pediatric care
at several California hospitals revealed that patients who were Asian
or black and patients who did not speak English at home had much
worse experiences than others. In that study, 61% of English-speaking
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