Rx for US Health Care Inequity: Increased Access to Primary Care

When asked where she and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) see the greatest opportunity for progress in pushing against the barriers to equitable health care in the US, AAFP President Dr Tochi Iroku-Malize immediately identified increasing access to primary care.

In a conversation with Patient Care^© on implications of new data from the Kaiser Family Foundation on racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care, Iroku-Malize referred to the finding that adults of color are more likely than White adults to report not having a usual health care professional. The reasons for this particular disparity are numerous and complex but the AAFP is committed to its longstanding work toward equitable access and treatment.

Iroku-Malize comments further in this interview.

Other conversations with Dr Iroku-Malize:

Health Equity Has it's Roots in the Exam Room, says AAPF President Iroku-Malize
AAFP President: We Need to Go Forward, Not Backward, on Racial Disparities in Health Care

Tochi Iroku-Malize, MD, MPH, a family physician in Long Island, New York, is current president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Iroku-Malize serves as founding chair and professor of family medicine for the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in Hempstead, New York, and is senior vice president and chair of the family medicine service line for Northwell Health. She oversees 4 family medicine residency programs and 3 fellowships spread across 23 hospitals. She was previously the director of the family medicine residency program at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, New York. She is currently a member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and is active in the Association of Departments of Family Medicine.