Why would the ER ask about your ancestry?

[Anonymous]

ASK. Since you're posting from the ER. Also tell them you were not asked previously, see what they say. There will be a reasonable explanation.

And then update the thread.

[Anonymous]

We are white, so sickle cell isn’t relevant.

We are here for a very obvious sports injury requiring a simple X-ray, so ancestry is irrelevant.

While I’ve seen questions regarding ethnicity on medical forms at a doctor’s office, those questions are more directly tied to race and language.

They asked where my kid was born and what our ancestry is. We have never been asked these questions before in this ER.

And yes, it’s a medstar ER.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are white, so sickle cell isn’t relevant.

We are here for a very obvious sports injury requiring a simple X-ray, so ancestry is irrelevant.

While I’ve seen questions regarding ethnicity on medical forms at a doctor’s office, those questions are more directly tied to race and language.

They asked where my kid was born and what our ancestry is. We have never been asked these questions before in this ER.

And yes, it’s a medstar ER.

And your mission, which you should accept, is to ASK the next nurse or doctor you see. And report back.

You owe us at least that much for creating a thread about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ASK. Since you're posting from the ER. Also tell them you were not asked previously, see what they say. There will be a reasonable explanation.

And then update the thread.

The response was, “It’s required by the intake system.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trying to verify info listed in insurance file.

Did they also ask for address, policy #, employer, and other identifiable factors? I assume yes.

"Trying to verify info listed in insurance file."
Yeah no.

[Anonymous]

Here’s what else I’ve observed: the ER is empty, which has never been the case on the countless times I’ve been in an ER. And for whatever reason there are 3 security guards in the ER (they usually have 1 during the day and 2 during the night (when ERs tend to get out of hand)).

[Anonymous]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/two-more-patients-say-they-faced-questions-around-citizenship-at-hospitals-in-philly-and-abington/ar-AA1HsC8g?apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1

I think the hospital has begun asking where you were born and what your ancestry is rather than outright asking if you are a citizen.

I also think they are asking everyone—including people who are obviously American—to avoid issues with profiling or complaints.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just asked about my kid’s ancestry after they inquired about where he was born.

Kid was born in the US (so was I snd so was my husband).

All of us have very American names, do not speak with an accent, and do not appear to be anything other than American.

I know why your obgyn asks about ethnicity, but I have no idea why they would specifically inquire about ethnicity at the ER when you are there for a sports injury requiring an X-ray.

Any thoughts?

What's a very American name?

Jennifer Smith

John Jones

Traditional American first name and surname as opposed to anything that sounds remotely ethnic.

If my name was Maria Rodriguez, I would not be as surprised if asked where I was born and what my ancestry was…at an ER during Trump’s reign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just asked about my kid’s ancestry after they inquired about where he was born.

Kid was born in the US (so was I snd so was my husband).

All of us have very American names, do not speak with an accent, and do not appear to be anything other than American.

I know why your obgyn asks about ethnicity, but I have no idea why they would specifically inquire about ethnicity at the ER when you are there for a sports injury requiring an X-ray.

Any thoughts?

What's a very American name?

Jennifer Smith

John Jones

Traditional American first name and surname as opposed to anything that sounds remotely ethnic.

If my name was Maria Rodriguez, I would not be as surprised if asked where I was born and what my ancestry was…at an ER during Trump’s reign.

You mean traditional British name?

[Anonymous]

Since they used the word ancestry, I answered appropriately.

But I wish I had simply said American.

This is all just so weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ASK. Since you're posting from the ER. Also tell them you were not asked previously, see what they say. There will be a reasonable explanation.

And then update the thread.

The response was, “It’s required by the intake system.”

Push back and say that you were not asked before. Ask if the hospital has been required to profile certain patients, and is choosing to ask everyone just to get Legal off their back. Ask every single person that comes in to treat your kid, and tell them you will require an official answer from the hospital, otherwise you're going to the media with this new intake stupidity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some diseases have well known genetic/ ancestry links. I don't click Hispanic on DEI type forms but do on medical ones since I am half Spanish and there are some linkages to cardiovascular diseases.

Right. But we are here for a sports injury/x-ray.

And I’ve been here as recently as last month for myself and they didn’t ask me these questions.

Sickle cell causes joint pain and inflammation, as an example.

People can go in for an assumed sports injury and they find it's something else altogether. I've known a few people with back and shoulder injuries, where it was actually cancer.

+1 Some bone cancers are also heavily linked to geographic ancestry/ethnicity, and frequent fractures can be one sign of those diseases.

.
Fine, as a doctor, if you believe this information would be necessary, explain the differential diagnosis, options/treatments and let me make an informed decision about what whether to disclose or allow me to opt for a particular treatment option. You, doctor, do not actually need to have your patient disclose all this information.

The OP is at registration.

The doctor is not asking for this information to make a diagnosis. I doubt the doctor even has access to it (or if they do it’s a PITA to find it).

I don’t know what it’s about.

[Anonymous]

That's funny. My family is clearly multi-ethnic, and my husband and I speak with an accent (not the same one). We have numerous serious diseases in the family.

None of us have ever been asked about our ancestry!

Also, my husband is a doctor and I'm a geneticist. As medical or assimilated professionals, we know that there are some situations in which genetic predispositions are affected by ethnicity, but none for a sport X-ray in the ER.

This is something else, but what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's funny. My family is clearly multi-ethnic, and my husband and I speak with an accent (not the same one). We have numerous serious diseases in the family.

None of us have ever been asked about our ancestry!

Also, my husband is a doctor and I'm a geneticist. As medical or assimilated professionals, we know that there are some situations in which genetic predispositions are affected by ethnicity, but none for a sport X-ray in the ER.

This is something else, but what?

Trump.

This is Trump. It has to be.

I’m hoping someone who works in an area hospital has insight as to why the ER registrar is now asking such questions.

[Anonymous]

Are you in DC? I find when I have medical appointments for myself or my kids in DC, they ask way more data seeking questions like this than vs Va or MD.

Questions re ethnicity, food insecurity, whether we had our utilities cut off in the last 12 months, etc. One of my kids switched to a DC school, and the medical forms alone were much more invasive than the previous Virginia school (and these are DC dept of health vs VDOH, the schools don’t create the forms) and DC even wants a dental one that is equally invasive. Some places, esp DC, love collecting so much data.