title: Racial and ethnic disparities in care: the perspectives of cardiologists.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite extensive documentation of racial and ethnic disparities in care, provider awareness of disparities has been thought to be low. To be effective, educational efforts for physicians must consider providers' knowledge and beliefs about what causes disparities and what can be done about them.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We conducted a Web-based survey of 344 cardiologists to determine their level of awareness of disparities and views of underlying causes. Responses were assessed by means of 5-point Likert scales. Thirty-four percent of cardiologists agreed that disparities existed in care overall in the US healthcare system, and 33% agreed that disparities existed in cardiovascular care. Only 12% felt disparities existed in their own hospital setting, and even fewer, 5%, thought disparities existed in the care of their own patients. Despite this, most respondents rated the strength of the evidence about disparities as "very strong" or "strong." Respondents identified many potential causes for disparities in care but were more likely to endorse patient and system level factors (eg, insurance status or adherence) rather than provider level factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cardiologists' awareness of disparities in care remains low, and awareness is inversely proportional to proximity to their own practice setting.
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1200 S Hayes St, Arlington, VA 22202, USA. lurie@rand.org
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lurie
authors.forename: Allen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fremont
authors.forename: Arvind K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: Stephanie L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: B Waine
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: T Bruce
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Ferguson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002309:Cardiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy; D003625:Data Collection; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011287:Prejudice; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013903:Thoracic Surgery; D014481:United States