When it comes to ordering meals at Houston's Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, immigrant patients can choose from dishes similar to those they might eat at home, dumplings or noodles for Asian palates and curry to accommodate Indian tastes.
These and other choices at medical facilities across the US reflect intense competition to attract one of health care's most desirable demographics affluent, foreign-born patients with generous insurance coverage or cash to pay out of pocket.
The menu is just part of the outreach. The Houston hospital also has redecorated patient rooms, subscribed to foreign-language TV channels and even changed the colour of hospital paperwork to reflect cultural preferences.
Hospitals "are recognising that they have to begin to gear their services and products toward more minority populations," said Rick DeFilippi, chairman of the board for the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association.
The effort to cater to minority and immigrant groups began decades ago in inner-city hospitals, but it's now becoming crucial to private institutions' quest for paying customers.
Immigrants from China, Vietnam and India have median household incomes above the national average of about 51,300 USD with immigrants from India earning more than double, according to the US Census Bureau.
Memorial Hermann began its initiative in 2009 by reaching out to Vietnamese and Chinese patients, for whom language was a major barrier.
The program was so successful it was expanded to include South Asian patients, many from India and Pakistan. A new menu includes four types of curry, and the hospital now allows for the kind of large family gatherings many US hospitals frown on.
In California, the El Camino Hospital developed a South Asian Heart Center and a Chinese Health Initiative, emphasising cultural sensitivity and prevention tailored to a community's specific ailments, such as high blood pressure, hepatitis B and certain cancers.
The American Hospital Association believes such programs are key. It has set three goals for 2020 that include pushing hospitals nationwide to hold cultural sensitivity training for all employees and collecting data on illness and ethnicity to tailor medical care. The group also wants to ensure hospital administrations and boards better reflect populations they serve, DeFilippi said.
