Fenway Health announced that Dr. Kenneth Mayer, Medical Research Director and Co-Chair of The Fenway Institute, has formally accepted a three-year term on the Advisory Panel on Addressing Disparities at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). PCORI is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that was established as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Its mandate is to improve the quality and relevance of available medical evidence to help patients, caregivers, clinicians, employers, insurers, and policy makers make informed health decisions.
Dr. Mayer was selected on the basis of his experience, expertise, and ability to contribute to the panel’s tasks and responsibilities. Panel members represent a broad range of healthcare stakeholder groups and perspectives, including patients, family caregivers, clinicians, drug and device makers, and researchers, among others. In addition to his work at The Fenway Institute, Dr. Mayer is also Infectious Disease Attending Physician and Director of HIV Prevention Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
As a member of the Advisory Panel on Addressing Disparities, Dr. Mayer will work to ensure that LGBT people are part of the dialogue around cultural competency in health care. While many LGBT people receive care at affirming health centers like Fenway, the majority are visiting doctors and nurses who are not knowledgeable or comfortable with LGBT health concerns, Dr. Mayer noted.
“LGBT people need to be a part of the [health disparities] conversation,” he said. “Asking about sexual health should be a routine medical question – unfortunately, the majority of providers are not being trained in this.”
Through PCORI, Dr. Mayer and the Advisory Panel will be able to bring LGBT health disparities into a much-needed national spotlight – a great step toward eliminating inequality in medicine. “The federal government is willing to put money behind training for LGBT needs, and that means a lot,” Dr. Mayer said.
Want to receive email updates about what’s happening at Fenway Health? Sign up here.
