Management Research Seminar Series, conducted by the Department of Economics and Business, aims to bring accomplished researchers in the Management field to share their current research projects to facilitate an academic discussion, enhance knowledge, and discover potential connections. The series is designed for the academic audience, i.e., the Faculty and MA, PhD students; however, anyone interested in the series is welcome to attend.
On March 8, Dr. Amit Bhatnagar from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will join the Management Research Seminar Series. The event will be on Zoom. For details, please email senyuza@ceu.edu or Yurteri_Sidar@phd.ceu.edu.
Title: Drivers of Patient Inequity in Healthcare
Abstract: In order to achieve health equity, where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health, disparities in care that adversely affect vulnerable populations need to be reduced and ultimately eliminated. Patients with low economic status perceive that their status affects their health care. One of the frequently reported differences in patient-provider communication is that providers did not listen to what the patients were saying or answer their questions. Patients’ perceptions of how the doctors and nurses viewed and treated them because of their low socioeconomic status could influence their decision to return for care. Estimating patients’ understanding of health care information and providing the appropriate communication intervention responses so that they can act on that information would help reduce disparities and provide patient-centered care. Disproportionate share hospitals (DSHs), serve a disproportionately large number of poor patients. We empirically examine if a high DSH patient percentage negatively influences patients’ recommendations to their friends and family. We also examine if the quality of communication with the provider, as perceived by the patients, mediates the relationship between DSH patient percentage and hospital recommendation. We use a national survey data for our empirical examination. Patients rate hospitals on different measures, including: communication with nurses; communication with doctors; responsiveness of hospital staff; and care transition information. In addition, the survey also asks patients to respond to the question on whether they would recommend the hospital to their friends and family. Our empirical analysis reveals that hospitals with a higher number of minority patients receive lower recommendation ratings. This effect is mediated by patient-provider communication: hospitals with higher number of low-income patients are perceived as providing lower quality patient-provider communication and those hospitals tend to receive lower recommendation ratings. We also find that rural hospitals, which serve large underserved populations, receive significantly lower recommendation ratings than urban hospitals.