Addressing Systemic Bias and Improving Specialist Access for Indigenous Communities

Indigenous communities in Alberta continue to face significant healthcare disparities, driven by historical policies, systemic bias, and structural inequities. The jurisdictional divide between federal and provincial healthcare responsibilities has created inconsistent access, contributing to poor care coordination and reduced trust in the system. Life expectancy for First Nations people in Alberta declined from 70.3 to 63.2 years between 2019 and 2021, an 18.2-year gap compared to non-Indigenous Albertans (Government of Alberta, 2023).

Racism in medical practice remains a serious issue, with studies showing that two-thirds of Alberta physicians hold implicit anti-Indigenous biases. Discrimination in healthcare settings leads to misdiagnoses, inadequate pain management, and reluctance among Indigenous patients to seek care. Trauma-informed, culturally competent healthcare is critical to reversing these trends.

The Challenge of Specialist Access

Indigenous communities experience disproportionately high rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic otitis media in children. However, access to specialists, particularly in ENT, cardiology, and endocrinology, is often severely limited. Many Indigenous children with hearing loss go undiagnosed due to geographic barriers and a shortage of culturally informed ENT specialists.

A physician working in a rural Indigenous community shared:

“Not all specialists can work well with patients who have a history of trauma. If a patient has one bad experience, it can take years to get them to go back. It’s a big deal for them to make the time and arrange transportation. We need to screen for specialists who are open and understanding. Alethea has helped me identify safe providers, which is something I wasn’t getting with traditional referral networks.”

How Alethea is Bridging the Gap

Alethea was founded to improve access to specialist care through AI-driven diagnostic tools and an eConsult platform that connects primary care providers (PCPs) with specialists across multiple fields. As we explore ways to better support Indigenous communities, two priorities have emerged:

• Expanding specialist access for chronic conditions disproportionately affecting Indigenous patients.
  
  
• Ensuring culturally sensitive care by connecting Indigenous patients with trauma-informed specialists.
  
  

Alethea is also considering an innovative approach: integrating Cultural Navigators into specialist consults. These trained individuals would help ensure consultations are conducted in a culturally competent manner, reducing medical trauma and improving patient trust.

Moving Toward Health Equity

Other healthcare organizations, such as Fraser Health Authority (FHA) in British Columbia, have implemented targeted Indigenous healthcare initiatives, including crisis support lines and culturally informed wellness programs. Alethea’s virtual consultation platform aligns with these efforts, helping to improve access to specialist care while ensuring Indigenous patients receive safe, respectful, and effective treatment.

True health equity requires systemic change, and technology-driven solutions like Alethea’s eConsult platform play a key role in closing the gap. By integrating culturally competent care models, we can work toward a future where Indigenous patients receive the healthcare they deserve.

Read the full article by Kelsey Pyde, VP of Product, here.