Research Description:

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Medicaid Patient Experiences

The issue of healthcare quality and its delivery is a focal point in the realms of clinical medicine, public health, and government policy at every level.  Of concern is the availability of quality healthcare, regardless of economic circumstance.  Individuals enrolled in Medicaid represent such a population that is less likely to receive adequate care.  Specifically, variability in patient ethnicity may be influencing the quality of delivered care.  Previous studies have revealed that communication between physician and patient of differing races may be deficient, not as a result of malice, but because of unique communication differences resulting from an individual's racial.ethnic background.  Research will address the effect of a patient's race/ethnicity on the patient/provider relationship as evidenced by the patient's evaluation of their physician on a satisfaction scale.  Data will be collected by phone using the "Florida Center for Medicaid & the Uninsured Medicaid Fee-for-Service" Survey  two data sets from the summer of 2006 and 2007, respectively, will be analyzed.  It is the aim of this research to identify specific areas of the clinical visit that may be deficient, as they relate individually, to a specific race/ethnicity, and forward these results to healthcare professionals in an attempt to improve healthcare delivery, and patient health outcomes.