Racial and ethnic disparities are an important issue in medicine. To help ensure they don’t persist in primary care and to figure out ways to address them in the Patient Centered Medical Home model, the Brown Primary Care Transformation Initiative will hold a symposium titled “Race, Ethnicity, and PCMH: Ensuring Everyone Has a Voice” at the Alpert Medical School Tuesday, June 16, 2015.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Some health care experts worry that efforts to implement the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model of primary care haven’t devoted enough attention to how a medical home might need to be shaped to best serve people from a particular race or ethnicity or how a primary care practice might look from a minority patient’s vantage point.

At the afternoon symposium “Race, Ethnicity, and PCMH: Ensuring Everyone Has a Voice” Tuesday, June 16,, 2015, health care providers, public officials, and members of the community will explore equity in primary care. Organizers in the Brown Primary Care Transformation Initiative (BPCTI) said event speakers and panelists will look at health care policies related to race and ethnicity, at patients’ experiences when they seek a medical home to suit their needs, and at structural racism embedded in the primary care system. They’ll also discuss ways to make sure everyone has access to a PCMH that meets their needs.

“This event marks an opportunity to ask ourselves how we can do a better job addressing racial and ethnic disparities in primary health care, with an emphasis on consumer engagement,” said co-organizer Dr. Joanna Brown, clinical assistant professor of family medicine and head of practice transformation facilitation for the BPCTI.

“We hope to open a conversation,” said Dr. Jeff Borkan, chair of the Department of Family Medicine, “a conversation we hope will be continued for decades to come.”

What
The afternoon features a round-table policy discussion, practice and patient panels, and a keynote address by Dr. Norman Oliver, chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine.

Who
Featured speakers include:
Dr. Oliver, an expert on health care disparities
• Elizabeth Roberts, secretary, R.I. Executive Office of Health and Human Services
• Dr. Nicole Alexander Scott, director, R.I. Department of Health
• Dr. Jeff Borkan, professor and chair of Family Medicine, Alpert Medical School
• Dr. Pablo Rodriguez, clinical associate professor of ob/gyn, Alpert Medical School
• Linda Newton, consultant, Newton & Newton LLC

When
Tuesday, June 16, 2015, 1 to 5 p.m.

Where
The Warren Alpert Medical School
222 Richmond Street, Room 120
Providence, R.I.