A recent study has revealed that Black patients may be less likely than their white counterparts to receive responses from doctors to their online queries. The study in JAMA Network Open is based on examining medical advice request messages sent in 2021 to Boston Medical Center, a major safety-net provider. As the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with substantial growth in patient portal messaging, the researchers scrutinized over 39,000 messages from primary care patients during this time. Black Patients Less Likely To Get A Response Of the patients included in the sample, 2006 were Asian, 21600
Forehead thermometers are widely used in hospitals and care settings around the world. However, the findings from a recent study suggest that these commonly used thermometers are less accurate in detecting fevers in Black patients than white. Researchers found that 23% of fevers in Black patients went undetected when temporal (forehead) thermometers were used compared to when oral (in mouth) thermometers. As temperature readings are used to determine levels of care, inaccurate readings may lead to missed fevers, delayed diagnoses, and increased mortality in Black patients, contributing to further distrust
According to a recent study published by JAMA Internal Medicine, an error in a widely used medical device that measures oxygen levels prevented critically ill patients of color from receiving the supplemental oxygen they required to help them breathe. The study comes after research from the medical journal JAMA last year revealed that pulse oximeters performed less accurately when used on Black and Hispanic patients, ultimately leading to a delay in care for patients with severe respiratory issues. Out of 3,000 patients treated in Boston’s intensive care unit (ICU), patients
