I went into the ER in Alabama about 20 years ago, and the nurse at intake didn’t even look up when I said there was a hatchet stuck in my leg and started asking if I was a smoker and what my race was.
In the USA almost all medical practices use standard EMR software from a small number of vendors. Epic EMR is one popular example.
There are some valid medical reasons to know the patient’s race or ethnicity, but IMO it’s mostly about metrics, data harvesting, statistical analysis, etc. There is a lot of money in data, and it’s cheap to store data points like race or ethnicity in a cloud database. And it’s cheap to punch down on workers and make them collect it from patients.
Sometimes this data is used for studies, but that’s not the prime motivating factor. Data = money. Data = job justification. Race is just one data point of many. I won’t speculate on all the things they could use it for, but there is little doubt they want it. They always ask at any provider I have ever been to.
In the USA, there are a frightening number of middle layer business entities that are basically rent-seekers who drive up the cost of health care. These entities are invisible to most of our population, and they like it that way. This network of entities is very complicated and boring (which is a good way to hide evil). A couple of easy examples would include PBMs and PSAOs. Not everything they do is useless but they are also a kind of tautology: we think we need them because we already have them in place.
Lina Khan was trying to clean some of this shit up, but then the Big Stupid of 2024 happened.
No wonder America’s got a problem with institutional racism if the health system is literally racist.
Edit: I’m not denying that genetics plays a role in medical issues. My wife and I are shortsighted, kid’s shortsighted. My dad and I have ADHD, kid’s got ADHD.
But for race being so relevant I wonder nobody has ever asked my wife, any of my kids or me what race we are.
And assuming a scientific relevance, which attributes define race exactly? It is the color of skin, shape of nose, the curliness of hair? Am I black if I’m from North Africa? Am I Caucasian or Asian if I’m from Siberia? If I’m 1/3 black and look like it, am I black even though the other 2/3 are Caucasian?
I do genetic research. Acknowledging that there are different genetic predispositions for different genetic ancestries is not racist. It’s like saying that talking about race is the same as racism.
you have no idea how minor the physiological difference are been ethnic groups. it’s almost nothing. most of the differences are straight up racism from the past and it still kills not white people at much high rates in emergency rooms, child birth, and life threatening diagnosis, which was always the point.
edit: If this makes you mad, please, educate yourself, if you diagnose based on ethnicity, then use statistics based on that diagnose are you killing people for not being white enough to get regular treatment without assumptions. are we ignoring cancer markers in ethnicity Irish people because stats say they have diabetes at high rates? no? just people who don’t have pale skin. those stats come with a 20%-30% misdiagnosed rate RIGHT NOW, you think that was better 20 years ago where the stats still are on record?
Hey Velma! I was procrastinating at work, when I saw your comment. We don’t use race anymore within medical science. We refer to genetic ancestry based on Principal Components. It’s a subtle, but extremely important distinction in science. Race is a social construct, genetic ancestry is the far better marker. So instead of Hispanic people, we’d say people of Hispanic ancestry
you’re out here fighting hard to keep medical intake race based. what exactly are you in favor of? Do you not know you’re fighting for deeply racist medical practice in the US?
I cant fucking find it because of all the slop results but just imagine I linked you a comedy skit of a completely apathetic hospital intake person requesting the name and date of birth of a person unconscious being resuscitated with CPR, and they don’t stop robotically and persistently asking the half-corpse intake questions.
Would love to see this. Every time I’ve had the misfortune to take a family member to the ER, it’s disgusting how fast they roll that payment cart up to you and get in your face about insurance, etc.
I went into the ER in Alabama about 20 years ago, and the nurse at intake didn’t even look up when I said there was a hatchet stuck in my leg and started asking if I was a smoker and what my race was.
Race is like the most irrelevant medical information I could imagine. Might as well ask for shoe size, or what you had for breakfast yesterday.
Could somebody ELI5 to me why Americans think it’s important to know what your genetic lineage is?
In the USA almost all medical practices use standard EMR software from a small number of vendors. Epic EMR is one popular example.
There are some valid medical reasons to know the patient’s race or ethnicity, but IMO it’s mostly about metrics, data harvesting, statistical analysis, etc. There is a lot of money in data, and it’s cheap to store data points like race or ethnicity in a cloud database. And it’s cheap to punch down on workers and make them collect it from patients.
Sometimes this data is used for studies, but that’s not the prime motivating factor. Data = money. Data = job justification. Race is just one data point of many. I won’t speculate on all the things they could use it for, but there is little doubt they want it. They always ask at any provider I have ever been to.
In the USA, there are a frightening number of middle layer business entities that are basically rent-seekers who drive up the cost of health care. These entities are invisible to most of our population, and they like it that way. This network of entities is very complicated and boring (which is a good way to hide evil). A couple of easy examples would include PBMs and PSAOs. Not everything they do is useless but they are also a kind of tautology: we think we need them because we already have them in place.
Lina Khan was trying to clean some of this shit up, but then the Big Stupid of 2024 happened.
It’s actually pretty relevant. Different
racesancestries* have different predispositions for certain diseases.No wonder America’s got a problem with institutional racism if the health system is literally racist.
Edit: I’m not denying that genetics plays a role in medical issues. My wife and I are shortsighted, kid’s shortsighted. My dad and I have ADHD, kid’s got ADHD.
But for race being so relevant I wonder nobody has ever asked my wife, any of my kids or me what race we are. And assuming a scientific relevance, which attributes define race exactly? It is the color of skin, shape of nose, the curliness of hair? Am I black if I’m from North Africa? Am I Caucasian or Asian if I’m from Siberia? If I’m 1/3 black and look like it, am I black even though the other 2/3 are Caucasian?
I do genetic research. Acknowledging that there are different genetic predispositions for different genetic ancestries is not racist. It’s like saying that talking about race is the same as racism.
I have definitely been asked if I’m Hispanic before for medical reasons.
you have no idea how minor the physiological difference are been ethnic groups. it’s almost nothing. most of the differences are straight up racism from the past and it still kills not white people at much high rates in emergency rooms, child birth, and life threatening diagnosis, which was always the point.
edit: If this makes you mad, please, educate yourself, if you diagnose based on ethnicity, then use statistics based on that diagnose are you killing people for not being white enough to get regular treatment without assumptions. are we ignoring cancer markers in ethnicity Irish people because stats say they have diabetes at high rates? no? just people who don’t have pale skin. those stats come with a 20%-30% misdiagnosed rate RIGHT NOW, you think that was better 20 years ago where the stats still are on record?
Is it? Hispanic people have a 50% higher risk of type 2 diabetes for example. Sickle cell is much higher in African American people.
I’m happy to be corrected on this with sources though!
Hey Velma! I was procrastinating at work, when I saw your comment. We don’t use race anymore within medical science. We refer to genetic ancestry based on Principal Components. It’s a subtle, but extremely important distinction in science. Race is a social construct, genetic ancestry is the far better marker. So instead of Hispanic people, we’d say people of Hispanic ancestry
I really appreciate the update on the language used! Ancestry - noted :)
Removed by mod
That is not the argument I’m making.
you’re out here fighting hard to keep medical intake race based. what exactly are you in favor of? Do you not know you’re fighting for deeply racist medical practice in the US?
You saw me tell you I’m happy to change my working knowledge on these things with sources and decided to just yell at me.
I cant fucking find it because of all the slop results but just imagine I linked you a comedy skit of a completely apathetic hospital intake person requesting the name and date of birth of a person unconscious being resuscitated with CPR, and they don’t stop robotically and persistently asking the half-corpse intake questions.
Would love to see this. Every time I’ve had the misfortune to take a family member to the ER, it’s disgusting how fast they roll that payment cart up to you and get in your face about insurance, etc.
You tried star award meme.gif
Thanks lemmy-silver.jpg
And? Were you a smoker of any specific race?
Cubans of course.
According to the DSM, Cubans are usually machete wounds. Hatchets are for the Africans and Irish.
“what my race was.”
The half-marathon!
Not with an axe in my leg.
Well it might have been a full marathon, that got cut short.