NIH research program to target health disparities in surgical outcomes

The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, part of the National Institutes of Health, yesterday announced an initiative that will fund research on disparities in surgical care and outcomes for disadvantaged populations. The program will collaborate with NIH and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and build on efforts by the American College of Surgeons and its national research agenda to address surgical disparities. “Racial and ethnic minority and low-income population groups are often times disproportionately affected by access, availability and affordability to the most advanced health care services,” said NIMHD Director Eliseo Pérez-Stable, M.D. “We need to better understand the integral role of optimal access to safe surgical care and medical management, which has not been well studied in health services or health disparities research.”