Diversity in healthcare: time to get REAL!

Cross-cultural healthcare involves three key issues: racial and ethnic disparities in the quality of healthcare provided to minority patients; cross-cultural value differences between immigrant patients and Western medical providers; and providing language access and assistance to limited English proficient (LEP) and disabled persons. Addressing these key issues represents a compelling diversity agenda for a new generation of healthcare executives. This article describes each of these challenges and the cutting-edge strategies that leading healthcare organizations are using to address them.