Policy interventions to address systemic barriers in surgical care access for minority populations in the United States

Improving access to surgical care, specifically to increase the opportunity for and utilization of services across minority populations, remains a significant challenge for health policymakers striving to achieve equity in care delivery. Therefore, this review explores systemic barriers to surgical care access among minority populations and evaluates policy interventions developed to address these disparities. This narrative review employed a comprehensive search strategy across databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, and Research Rabbit, utilizing keywords such as "policy intervention," "systemic barriers," and "minority populations." Studies focusing on U.S. racial and ethnic minorities and barriers to surgical care were included, encompassing articles published within the last 20 years, along with relevant older literature. Non-English articles and studies not related to racial or ethnic minorities were excluded. Additionally, reference lists of selected articles were hand-searched for further relevant studies. This review identifies systemic barriers limiting minority populations' access to surgical care, including structural racism, socioeconomic disadvantage, healthcare system segregation, and provider bias. It assesses the effectiveness of policy interventions like Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, noting mixed results in reducing racial and ethnic disparities in surgical outcomes. The findings underscore the necessity of multi-level interventions targeting patient, provider, and system-level factors to enhance equitable access to surgical care for minority groups, highlighting the need for comprehensive efforts from policymakers, hospitals, and health systems to promote healthcare equity.