The economic cost of racial disparities in patients undergoing cardiac valve repair or replacement

Summary

Historically marginalized populations – including Black and Latino patients, and those of lower socioeconomic status (SES) – are well-known to have poorer cardiovascular outcomes than their majority counterparts. The issue of healthcare equity gained mainstream attention after the release of Unequal Treatment, a seminal Institute of Medicine report that demonstrated these disparities. Healthcare disparities according to race and ethnicity have since been extensively detailed, and have been shown to persist after controlling for SES and comorbidities. These differences are attributed in part to the sequelae of structural racism, which refers to ‘totality of ways in which societies foster racial discrimination through mutually reinforcing systems of housing, education, employment, earnings, benefits, credit, media, healthcare and criminal justice’. Furthermore, these patterns of reinforcement contribute to the higher morbidity and mortality and overall worse clinical outcomes in this population.