The Health Disparities Podcast

Black Physician Assistants Matter: A “JEDI” discussion.

Podcast host and NYC Physician Assistant Klarisse Mathis welcomes two colleagues and mentors. Infectious disease specialist Sondra Middleton, MHS, PA-C, is Assistant Professor at the Touro School of Health Sciences, and Associate Director of Physician Assistant Manhattan.

Unique payer-provider structure, new models of patient-centered care.

Dr. Dwight Burney welcomes back orthopedic surgeon and outcomes expert Dr. MaCalus Hogan, M.D., M.B.A. to the podcast. Dr. Hogan is the Vice Chair of Education, and Residency Program Director, in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a health system serving 3 million patients.

Mitigating the unintended consequences of health policy.

Dr. Jannifer Harper welcomes rural health and legislative affairs expert Bill Finerfrock, and Root Cause Coalition Director Tom Dorney, who previously served as Senior Policy Advisor to Congressman John Lewis.

Value-based payments: a health economics perspective.

Dr. Mary O’Connor hosts a discussion about the potentially detrimental impact of value-based care models on vulnerable populations, and how the safety-net hospitals that serve these patients are further strained, particularly in rural and inner-city areas.

Dr. O’Connor hosts panel discussing how the perception of risk in surgery can widen health disparities.

Risk is an intrinsic part of medical decision making. Every drug and every procedure must justify their benefit relative to any risks involved, so healthcare providers are very conscious of these risks and outcomes.

Educators discuss why more Hispanics should enter the healthcare workforce. Part 2, featuring Dr. Sherry Segura.

Dr. Sherry Segura continues our exploration of Hispanic education and workforce diversity. Dr. Segura is CEO of the Foundation for Hispanic Education in San Jose, California, where she is deeply involved in community efforts to ensure high quality and innovative educational services are available to all students.

Educators discuss how more Hispanics can enter the healthcare workforce. Part 1, featuring Ed Alvarez.

Ed Alvarez is President at the Latino Education Advancement Foundation in the San Francisco bay area, collaborating with other experienced nonprofits in developing initiatives focusing on college and career pathways, college persistence and completion.

Perspectives on health disparities through an epidemiology lens. Featuring Dr. Leigh Callahan.

Dr. Leigh Callahan is Professor of Medicine & OAAA. As an epidemiologist, Dr. Callahan seeks to understand how outcomes of osteoarthritis are influenced by factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, location, and social determinants of health (such as socioeconomic status).

Are rural health disparities being widened by bundled payments? Featuring Donna Kurek.

When healthcare quality management expert Donna Kurek made the switch to a more rural hospital system, she realized that there exists a whole different set of social determinants to consider in Appalachia, especially in the context of bundled payments.

Physician Assistants have an increasingly important role in healthcare. Featuring Klarisse Mathis.

Physician Assistants are a relatively new specialty created in response to the shortage of primary care physicians in rural areas, and the PA profession is now well established with over 100,000 graduates of accredited PA programs.