+ Ochsner-Xavier Institute for Health Equity and Research

OXIHER combines the resources of Ochsner and Xavier University of Louisiana – and their network of partners – to conduct research and provide education around best practices for eliminating health disparities, offer provider education on health equity and population health, and help build a diverse and inclusive pipeline of healthcare providers. Some key accomplishments in the last year included:

Outcomes Research

• A Master Data Sharing and Use Agreement granting Xavier faculty access to Ochsner Health’s electronic medical record data for research

• The hiring of four data scientists who can provide project-specific data analytics for Xavier faculty

• The hiring of three recent Xavier graduates for the Research Apprenticeship Program at Ochsner

• Five $10,000 pilot research grants awarded to Xavier faculty for collaborations with Ochsner investigators

OXIHER Community Engagement

• In 2021: 65+ events reached 25,450 attendees, most of which focused on health screenings, COVID-19 vaccinations and disseminating COVID-19 information to socially disadvantaged populations

• Through September 2022: 54 community outreach and education events with 11,076 attendees, with tobacco cessation and cancer prevention, early diagnosis and treatment as major focus

Population Health

• Launched an internship for Xavier Master of Public Health students

• Xavier physician assistant student clinical externships at Ochsner Community Health Centers

• Launched Ochsner’s health equity data and quality improvement strategy

Health Education & Health Careers

• A new Master of Science in Health Informatics degree program at Xavier

• Appointment of two Xavier faculty liaisons for health outcomes and informatics research Health Advocacy

• Medicaid expansion of tobacco cessation coverage to all Medicaid enrollees

• Speaking engagements at the Maternal Health Call to Action Summit at the White House

• Assistance with Ochsner’s Maternal Health Briefing, which advocated for increasing access to evidence-based digital health technology

+ Promoting Practices to Reduce Maternal Morbidity

The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy countries, and the risk is particularly high for Black women, who are more than three times as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related complications.

As Director of the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative, Dr. Veronica Gillispie-Bell is helping hospitals in the state become “Birth Ready” by adopting practices to reduce maternal morbidity, especially for conditions like hypertension that disproportionately affect Black women.

16 Louisiana hospitals have earned the “Birth Ready” designation, including four Ochsner facilities.

Dr. Gillispie-Bell is also a champion of using telehealth to reach patients in rural areas. Since 2015, she has been using Ochsner’s Connected MOM (Maternity Online Monitoring) technology, which provides digital tools patients can use to take their blood pressure and other readings and transmit results electronically to their care teams.