The health care system in the United States is frequently referred to as the best in the world, yet not all citizens have access to the system if they are low-income workers who lack income or health insurance to pay for needed medical care. Despite such financial barriers, there is a widespread belief that access to health care is equitable. The system is not equitable however, even if a low-income person has access to Medicaid services. This inequity is further exacerbated if you belong to an ethnic minority for your access to biomedical care is shaped by health care providers' perceptions of what it means to belong to an ethnic minority. This paper proposes that health care access is not a given but rather a process in which an individual must strategize ways to obtain needed medical care. Recognizing the dichotomy between women's and providers' expectations of what is involved in achieving access to prenatal care, coupled with the cultural competency training that care providers' receive, sheds new light on the gridlock of gaining access to care. This paper will illustrate that the disparity between women's and health care providers' views of access to prenatal care has distinct implications for the ways in which health care providers, and their organizations, attempt to remedy the barriers low-income women belonging to an ethnic minority are faced with in managing access to prenatal care.
Learning Objectives: 1. Consider that health care access is not a given but rather process in which an individual must strategize ways to obtain needed medical care. 2. Recognize the dichotomy between patients' and providers' understanding of what is involved in gaining access to prenatal care. 3. Demonstrate the implications the disparity between patients' and health care providers' views of access have on how barriers to prenatal care are remedied
Keywords: Access to Health Care, Cultural Competency
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.