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Surgical Disparities: Beyond Non-Modifiable Patient Factors

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Health Services Research

Part of the book series: Success in Academic Surgery ((SIAS))

Abstract

Over the past several years, there has been an explosion of publications describing disparities in virtually all aspects of our healthcare system. Surgery is no exception, with recent studies reporting inequities in surgical care and outcomes related to race, gender, age, socioeconomic status, education, and geographic location. Progress, however, has remained slow, likely due to an inadequate understanding of the mechanisms that lead to these disparities. To effectively address health care disparities, it is imperative to differentiate between modifiable and non-modifiable factors and focus primarily on addressing the former. Since most people who will be reading this chapter are current or future surgeons, we would strongly recommend you focus on identifying modifiable causes of disparities that affect your patient population, followed by devising and testing innovative approaches that can reduce them in your practice and the healthcare system as a whole.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Numa P. Perez, Claire A. Pernat & David C. Chang

  2. Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

    Claire A. Pernat

Authors
  1. Numa P. Perez
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  2. Claire A. Pernat
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  3. David C. Chang
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Correspondence to David C. Chang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Justin B. Dimick

  2. Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Carrie C. Lubitz

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Perez, N.P., Pernat, C.A., Chang, D.C. (2020). Surgical Disparities: Beyond Non-Modifiable Patient Factors. In: Dimick, J., Lubitz, C. (eds) Health Services Research. Success in Academic Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28357-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28357-5_5

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