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The Business of
Health Care Report This is the second in a two-part series on the impact of Hispanics on health care needs in our community. In North Texas, Hispanics are 16 percent of the population and expected to grow by 22 percent between 2000 and 2005. The health care industry faces quite a challenge to serve this dynamic population. A primary issue is the availability of Hispanic physicians. Research shows that Hispanic consumers prefer to visit Hispanic physicians. While language may be a consideration in choosing a Hispanic physician, confidence and relationship factors are even more important to the patient. Nationally, only 2.2% of practicing physicians are Hispanic. In Texas, 5% of U.S. medical school graduates are Hispanic. That's just 2,103 Hispanic physicians - most in internal medicine - for a state that is 32 percent Hispanic. Yet Texas, along with California and New York, have more than one-third of all minority physician graduates of U.S. medical schools. A second issue is adequate Hispanic infrastructures in hospitals and physician offices.issues such as signage; forms in Spanish if preferred; adequacy of bilingual staff especially in admitting, emergency medicine, nursing and business functions; and availability of health education information. As the health care industry struggles to find adequate personnel overall -- especially in nursing and technical positions - the challenge is even greater in developing and competing for bilingual staff to address the growing Hispanic population throughout all the stages of their lives and cultural adaptation. Research indicates Hispanic consumers are loyal to a health care facility once they are introduced to quality and user-friendly care. In North Texas, hospitals and physicians need to pick up the pace to adequately care for our Hispanic neighbors. If you have comments on health care or suggestions for topics to be addressed on this program, e-mail me at DouglasHawthorne@TexasHealth.org. Stay tuned to our weekly Business of Health Care reports here on TexasHealth.org and on News Radio 1080 KRLD. Source: Dieste & Partners, HealthWatch survey, Association of American Medical Colleges Doug Hawthorne - DougHawthorne@TexasHealth.org ©
2001 Texas Health Resources |
