title: Enhancing the cultural competency of health-care organizations.
abstract: According to the Census, racial/ethnic minority populations are growing at such a fast rate that by 2050 more than 50% of the population will belong to a minority group (US Census, 2001). The increasing diversity of the U.S. population is one of the many changes that health-care delivery organizations need to proactively address in order to better serve their community and improve their performance. In this paper, we argue that cultural competency not only is important from a societal perspective, i.e., reducing health disparities, but can also be a strategy for health-care organizations to improve quality, lower cost, and attract customers. We provide detailed recommendations for health-care leaders and managers to adopt in order to successfully serve a diverse patient population.
authors: Department of Health Services Administration, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA.
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Weech-Maldonado
authors: Mona
authors: M
authors: Al-Amin
authors: Robyn Y
authors: RY
authors: Nishimi
authors: Fatema
authors: F
authors: Salam
mesh_terms: D054521:Cultural Competency; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D057220:Health Literacy; D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000592:standards; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011157:Population Dynamics; D014481:United States