12 October 2005
Public/Private Partnerships:
Can They Remedy Health Disparities?
Barbara DeBuono, M.D., Pfizer Public Health Group, New York NY
Randy Axelrod, M.D., Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Richmond VA
Jane Woods, Secretary of Health and Human Resources,
Commonwealth of Virginia
Arthur Garson, Jr., M.D., M.P.H., Vice President and Dean,
School of Medicine, UVA
Significant health disparities in the U.S. today stem from persistent racial, ethnic and class bias. Certain population groups – among them, African Americans, Hispanics, the impoverished and the uninsured – have poor access to good, timely health care, which accounts at least in part for these groups' higher rates of morbidity and mortality. What's to be done to address health disparities? Is this a social problem or a health care "system" problem? How might public and private organizations come together to find remedies?
Co-presented with the Center on Health Disparities