Addressing Health Disparities by Engaging Ethnic Physicians

Carol A. Lee, M.A. J.D., President and CEO
California Medical Association Foundation

The mission of the California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation is to “champion improved individual and community health through a partnership of leaders in medicine, related health professions, and the community.”  We realize improving community health takes the efforts of the entire community, so we leverage our resources with other stakeholders who share our vision.  Physicians are a key part of the broader community that includes families, employers, community-based organizations, schools and governmental agencies, among others.  Partnerships are the key to our successes. 

The CMA Foundation believes that addressing health disparities is a crucial component of improving the health status of our communities.  The CMA Foundation reviewed the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) March 2002 report, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare, which provided compelling evidence that racial and ethnic disparities exist in medical care for many health conditions and services.  Studies have shown that ethnic physicians tend to serve a greater portion of diverse communities as compared to non-ethnic physicians.  While most ethnic patients in California still receive care from a health professional of a different ethnic background, ethnic physicians in California often provide a bridge to greater language and cultural understanding between their colleagues in their communities.

Based on such information, the CMA Foundation Board developed the unique approach of addressing cases of disparities by engaging ethnic physicians and their organizations.  The first step in this process was to locate ethnic physician organizations, and more than 60 were identified in California.  Through the work of the Foundation, these organizations have come together for the first time to develop a unified network, speak in one voice, and to advocate on behalf on their communities.  As these leaders from the Chinese, Peruvian, Vietnamese, Latino, Taiwanese, Armenian, Russian, East Indian, Filipino, Korean and African American medical associations coalesced around a unified message, the creation of the Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations (NEPO) was set in motion.  Ethnic physicians would no longer allow critical decisions that impact the health of their communities to be made without being at the table.

Since that time, member ethnic physician organizations have worked together to develop a joint agenda to impact health care in California.  Realizing the strength inherent in working together, NEPO began its work by looking within ethnic physician medical societies and associations.  This first venture resulted in the report, “Diverse Partners, Common Goals”, published in February 2003 by the CMA Foundation.  This groundbreaking document describes various ethnic physician organizations and their infrastructure.

In January 2005, NEPO formally adopted an organizational structure and established a steering committee made up of delegates from each of its member organizations, collectively representing some 20,000 ethnic physicians. NEPO is comprised solely of volunteers and receives staff and technical assistance from the CMA Foundation.  At the core of NEPO are founders Rolland Lowe, M.D., Past President of the CMA and Chair of the CMA Foundation Board, and Frank Staggers, Sr., M.D., also a past president of the CMA and current Chair of the CMA Foundation Board of Directors.  Before its inception, these two ethnic physicians cultivated the vision of NEPO and continue to nurture it today.  NEPO is proud to have such courageous and innovative thinkers in its midst.

NEPO has adopted a five-year strategic plan, which includes five overarching guiding principles to: 

• Work together in a manner that enables members to share ideas, listen to one another and build trust;

• Enable ethnic physicians to grow in their understanding of the cultural and language needs of member communities;

• Empower ethnic physicians to bring about positive change in the health of their communities; 

• Take appropriate action together for our patients and communities; and

• Include a focus on prevention and wellness.

NEPO has realized significant achievements in the short time it has existed, including:

• The successful development of a statewide physician and patient education project targeting cancer screening awareness in Asian and Latino communities, including an ethnic media campaign.

• The adoption of a plan to increase diversity in the physician workforce in California which includes mentoring and working with the business community.

• The implementation of a two-year needs assessment of solo and small group practices that serve the safety net.  The purpose of the assessment is to strengthen and ensure these practices continue to serve the safety net.

• Awarded 17 grants to ethnic physician organizations totaling $120,000 to address the issues of community health disparities and workforce diversity.

Through a partnership with the CMA Foundation, NEPO is targeting underserved communities in California where health disparities are most prevalent.  NEPO will also focus on health care workforce diversity issues to ensure that private practice physicians continue to serve the safety net.  We at the CMA Foundation continue to learn from the ethnic physician leaders around the state, so we encourage our colleagues throughout the nation to seek out the expert advice from ethnic physicians in their state.  For more information regarding NEPO or the CMA Foundation,
visit our Web site at www.calmedfoundation.org.