Evidence-Based Equity: A Quantitative Comparison of Patient Care by Race at Princeton University Health Services, Meghana Bhupati ,UG '26, Cole Strupp, UG '26, Angel Ndubisi, UG '26, Dharmil Bhavsar, UG '26, (EC15EBF2)

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Studies have shown that racial minorities are less likely to utilize primary healthcare and more likely to express mistrust and dissatisfaction in some healthcare settings. We sought to determine whether these trends persist in a University health system, where structural disparities in accessibility, proximity, and insurance should theoretically be obsolete.

To that end, we compared the racial demographics of patients at Princeton University Health Services (UHS) to the student body as a whole. Across all services – Outpatient, Counseling & Psychological (CPS), and Infirmary – we found an unexpectedly high number of Asian patients and low number of White patients. Such results likely stem from the overrepresentation of Asian students on the Student Health Plan (SHP), compared to White students’ under-enrollment. Students on University insurance may simply be more likely to seek care through UHS than those on private insurance, who opt for outside providers. However, although Black student enrollment on the SHP matches predictions, they are still overrepresented among CPS and infirmary patients, begging a new question about why their demand for these services might be higher.

To compare satisfaction by race, we analyzed UHS patient surveys and found that 95.1% of all responding patients were satisfied. Most importantly, though, satisfaction did not significantly differ by race. Our own qualitative survey also revealed that a majority of respondents were satisfied, even if they believed their racial identity was not well-represented among providers. These promising results suggest that UHS may serve as a valuable model for equitizing healthcare at Universities and beyond.

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Evidence-Based Equity: A Quantitative Comparison of Patient Care by Race at Princeton University Health Services, Meghana Bhupati ,UG '26, Cole Strupp, UG '26, Angel Ndubisi, UG '26, Dharmil Bhavsar, UG '26, (EC15EBF2)

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