While patients maintain the legal right to informed consent and the option to refuse medical treatment, that right does not include the ability to choose a particular physician to provide treatment, Wall Street Journal reporter Sumathi Reddy claims.
Patient discrimination against providers is an oft-ignored topic, according to Ms. Reddy. Several recent cases of discrimination have dominated headlines across the country.
Among them is the case of an Asian-American resident who was placed on leave from Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center after a patient complained about the resident's activist efforts on social media.
The resident in question, Eugene Gu, MD, told The Chronicle earlier this month he also experienced several instances of harassment at the hands of his peers, stating he "[doesn't] know how many residents would be able to withstand [the alleged harassment] and continue on with their day. … This is my burden I have to shoulder in order to make a difference. It's worth it, but it's really hard."
The issue of discrimination against healthcare professionals has caused some healthcare organizations to institute policies protecting their employees and staff from harassment, Ms. Reddy writes. Hershey, Pa.-based Penn State College of Medicine is one of several institutions that has adopted language into its patients rights policy that states patients' "requests for changes of provider or other medical staff based on the provider's race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity will not be honored. Requests for provider or medical staff changes based on gender will be considered on a case by case basis and only based on extenuating circumstances."
Officials at other institutions have similarly broached the issue. A professor at the University of Chicago Medicine has begun work on a simulation program to train medical professionals on how to respond to discriminatory patients, according to the report. A pediatrician affiliated with Stanford (Calif.) Medicine published a paper in the journal Academic Medicine in November 2016 outlining strategies to address patient discrimination toward providers.
Uche Blackstock, MD, an assistant professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine at the New York City-based NYU School of Medicine, told Ms. Reddy she and her colleagues decided to have a serious conversation about providers' rights after several physicians reported varying incidents of discrimination.
"What is really important for us is to find a way to better support our trainees, our interns and residents, because they are the ones coming to us and talking about these experiences," Dr. Blackstock said.
To read the full Wall Street Journal report, click here.