Chinatown has a healthcare system that is fragmented between the clinical centers and the community. There is no communication between clinical centers and traditional medicine pharmacies, and many patients in Chinatown supplement their prescribed medications without their care team’s knowledge.
Working with the Empire State Patient Safety Network and Mount Sinai Beth Israel Asian Service Program, we have collected data on over 100 patients and are proceeding with analysis of the data to determine any insight to improve health outcomes for the community. Documentation of use will allow further research on potential drug interactions in order to improve diabetes care with a culturally-competent approach.