Addressing Bias in Healthcare

Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Allegheny Health Network, joins Dr. Vanessa Weaver to speak about disparities within the healthcare system towards patients and medical professionals of color, and how to alleviate those biases for better outcomes for both groups.
In this Episode
• A brief introduction in Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew’s work with Allegheny Health Network, and how it aims to curtail racial discrimination and inequities within healthcare, especially in the sector of obstetrics and gynecology
• How biases within the healthcare system affect the quality of care that patients of color, particularly Black patients, receive, and how it affects the mental well-being of doctors of color and their ability to perform their duties efficiently
• Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew’s experiences with growing up in the Jim Crow era and how it inspired her to enter the medical field with the goal of dismantling racism and making healthcare access and quality equal for all
• The maternal mortality rate of Black women in the United States and how social and political determinants of health play into the mortality rate, and what can be done to end it
• The role of leadership in employing diversity, equity, and inclusion training in healthcare networks and hospitals to help doctors and other medical professionals deliver quality healthcare for patients of color, and to make the environment more equitable for doctors of color
Resources
• Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew
• Allegheny Health Network
• Dr. Vanessa Weaver
• Alignment Strategies
• The Color of My Heart: Embracing My Blackness Through History, Family, Fear and Faith