Contact: Brad Lifford
October 15, 2010
JOHNSON CITY A health care journal has presented an award of excellence to an East
Tennessee State University assistant professor of public health for a study of variables
that affect the delivery of quality primary health care.
Dr. Brian Martin, an assistant professor in the ETSU College of Public Healths Department
of Health Services Administration, was one of only three winners chosen to receive
a Highly Commended Award at the Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2010. Martin
and his co-authors, Dr. Leiyu Shi of Johns Hopkins University and Ryan Ward, a former
graduate assistant in ETSUs Department of Health Services Administration, received
the award for their study of how the race and gender of patients, as well as the language
they speak, affect their assessment of the quality of primary care they receive.
Their study was published in the International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, and some of their findings are unique. Martin said that he and his colleagues found
that language barrier but not necessarily gender or race may be a key predictor.
Our study didnt reach the same conclusions as those from some previous studies, because
we didnt find that race and gender were significant factors in determining health
care quality, Martin said. What we did find is that a language barrier, a patients
ability to communicate with his or her primary care physician, does play a significant
role.
Martin cautioned that there needs to be additional study of the relationship of race
and gender as they relate to quality of care, as it is well-documented that minority
populations experience disproportionate health disparities, and that several variables
can contribute to health disparities. He said that should further study confirm their
findings on the relation of language to health care quality, it could have serious
policy implications for providers, as the percentage of patients who do not speak
English continues to grow.
Being able to communicate with your provider really is a basic quality issue, Martin
said. Is a patient able to understand and answer a physicians questions, or is the
patient able to ask questions about treatment options? Can the patient reach the provider
after hours? All of those are scenarios where we found that language could be a significant
barrier.
The providers who would be most affected, Martin said, are primary care physicians
in smaller practices. Martin, who is the coordinator of the Master of Public Health
degree program and health care management certificate program in the College of Public
Health, has conducted previous research on cost of health care and access to it.
Hospitals, health systems, and health departments do a good job with language issues
because they have the resources, Martin said. But it could be a challenge for a primary
care provider. You would have to ask yourself, Do I have someone on staff who can
act as an interpreter? It can be an issue, especially for smaller practices. When
providers are in a community where demographic changes occur and you have more Spanish-speaking
residents in your community, the number of Spanish-speaking patients seen may increase,
but you also have the opportunity to draw from a larger bilingual community in your
hiring practices.
