Nola Reporter

The color of a person’s skin can often influence the level of  healthcare they receive. A new Tulane University study identifies the  barriers patients from marginalized communities face when they seek  primary care appointments and how health care providers can address  these inequities.

Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine assistant professors https://sph.tulane.edu/hpm/brigham-walker-phd and https://sph.tulane.edu/ihsd/janna-wisniewski and professors https://www.pdx.edu/economics/sarah-tinkler and https://www.pdx.edu/economics/rajiv-sharma from Portland State University will present their research with a Zoom  discussion on “Interventions to Improve Equity in Primary Care Access”  at noon on Wed., June 29. The event is free, but registration is  required to participate. Please https://tulane.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUud-2ppzgtEtARmsE9pLTGcE0QOQeLXAjh?_x_zm_rtaid=17wf5sIZRcaQX17-6M7abA.1656550869097.af98c2aba0a559e6e73f59a9f8dc7e15&_x_zm_rhtaid=148 to register. Viewers are encouraged to submit questions for the presenters via the Zoom chat.

The presentation is the first in a series highlighting research  results from Count the Costs: Racial Inequity, a project launched last  year by https://freeman.tulane.edu/lepage at  Tulane’s A. B. Freeman School of Business to award research grants to  projects aimed at identifying and addressing economic barriers facing  Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC)-owned businesses and  communities.

"Our grantees have begun important  research on topics that are critical to more inclusive communities and a  healthier overall economy."

- Rob Lalka, Albert R. Lepage professor in business and executive director of the Lepage Center

Researchers will discuss the barriers BIPOC communities face when  seeking health care, what patients can do to mitigate this  discrimination and what steps providers can take to ensure patients are  treated equitably.

“We find statistically significant differences in access, both at  baseline and in response to different interventions, that provide  insights into the nature of health care access discrimination and what  can be done about it,” Walker said. “We also find that some  interventions seeking to improve care access broadly appear to benefit  White and Hispanic patients but do not benefit Black patients.”

“All our research is focused on improving access to  care and this is among the first studies that test concrete strategies  that patients can use to obtain care,” Tinkler said.  

The Count the Costs initiative was motivated by findings of the Lepage Center’s https://freemannews.tulane.edu/2020/10/12/2020-startup-report-highlights-inequities-in-access-to-funding/,  which pointed to significant racial inequities in access to startup  funding. This led to an effort across the Freeman School to understand  inequities across the business community. After conversations and  support from partners across the university, the Freeman School expanded  the project to highlight the BIPOC experience in a wide range of areas,  such as public health, housing and criminal justice, to gain a better  understanding of how racial inequities impact the region’s economy.  Teams were encouraged to collaborate with community organizations to  ensure they incorporate diverse perspectives into their research.

In June 2021, The Lepage Center announced the https://freemannews.tulane.edu/2021/06/14/lepage-center-announces-recipients-of-count-the-costs-research-grants as part of its Count the Costs initiative. From a funding pool of  $120,000, grants in the amount of $20,000 supported projects that  investigate barriers BIPOC individuals and communities experience in  society, the economic costs of those barriers and viable approaches to  addressing them.

“Through the Count the Costs program, we set out to investigate the  economic impacts of racial inequities. Our grantees have begun important  research on topics that are critical to more inclusive communities and a  healthier overall economy. I am grateful for the work done by the team  behind this first study, as well as the five others that will share  their results in the coming months,” said Rob Lalka, Albert R. Lepage  professor in business and executive director of the Lepage Center.

The projects selected to receive grants will present preliminary findings throughout the summer and fall of 2022.

_{Source: https://news.tulane.edu/pr/count-costs-tulane-faculty-focus-research-efforts-improving-equity-primary-care-access}