Healthcare disparities refer to variation in disease occurrence and outcomes between socioeconomic or geographically defined groups. Disparities are commonly viewed through the lens of race and ethnicity, but they occur across a broad range of dimensions, including insurance status, age, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, language, disability status, gender, and sexual identity and orientation. In 1999, Congress requested that the Institute of Medicine assess the extent of racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare, controlling for access-related factors, such as insurance status and affordability of care. Despite this, evidence of racial and ethnic healthcare disparities remained remarkably consistent across a wide range of diseases and services. This panel will start with an overview of healthcare disparities, including a discussion of the current literature in the context of the broader evidence base on disparities. Then, speakers will address key contributing factors to healthcare disparities, including the 1) structure and function of healthcare systems and the legal and regulatory climate in which they operate, 2) impact of social determinants of health, and 3) influence of cognitive and implicit bias. In addition, each speaker will frame their discussion using examples from within their subspecialty field of expertise, including rhinology, head & neck oncology, and pediatric otolaryngology, to maximize direct clinical relevance for a broad audience. Finally, the speakers will also incorporate reflections from the coronavirus pandemic, which has served to exacerbate many of these pre-existing issues of healthcare disparities.