Special Report Web Exclusive: Diversity, To Ask or Not to Ask

Healthcare researchers say it’s critical to get more women, Black and Latino participants in clinical trials. It can be done, but researchers and institutions must make the effort.

Several researchers point out that women face higher stress due to family duties, gender roles and social determinants. They say it’s an area worthy of more attention in research.

Improving patient monitoring through care-at-home services could help reduce maternal mortality, they say.

More needs to be done to give healthcare access to low-income women.

We've come a long way, baby. Yes, women in the workplace, in the board room, in political office-and in healthcare-have come a long way. A status report on Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures specifically targeting women is showing upward trends, or at least steady statistics. Private health plans showed improvement in 35 out of 42 effectiveness of care HEDIS measures in 2005.

Drug Manufacturers have introduced vaccines for meningococcal disease, shingles, pertussis, rotavirus, and cervical cancer, meanwhile even more vaccines are in the development pipeline. While each represents a major step forward for public health, the advances present an assortment of challenges from payment rates for physicians to moral issues for parents.