If you are Hispanic in L.A., the odds are good that your doc did not check you for HIV...
Only 36 percent of the primary care providers offered more than 20 HIV tests during that same period, even though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that doctors offer routine HIV testing to patients in areas with high rates of HIV infection. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.
With AIDS increasing among Hispanics, you would hope that docs in L.A. County would be more willing to check for HIV when a person of Hispanic descent goes for a visit. However, a study conducted between March and June of 2004 shows docs are less likely, not more likely, to check for AIDS among Hispanic patients.
This article points out another sad, but true case involving our healthcare system. We have the best physicians in the world, but when they decide to pick and choose what services they want to deliver, I think it is high time we start seriously look for ways to improve the care patients are receiving.
For more information, go to:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20070301/hl_hsn/fewprimarycaredocsofferhivtesttolashispanics
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