Medical Civil Rights: The Exclusion of Physicians of Color from Managed Care: Business or Bias

Historically, physicians of color experienced significant barriers in their continued assimilation into the health care profession. Although managed care organizations do not appear to purposefully discriminate against physicians of color, the selection criteria utilized by these networks coupled with underlying biases have resulted in a disproportionate exclusion of minority physicians. By analyzing the norms and practices of managed care organizations, the author highlights possible causes of this disparity. Additionally, after addressing the inadequacy of using current civil rights laws to redress discrimination in the medical market, the author offers several innovative local, state, and federal remedies as potential alternative avenues for relief.