Many researchers working on health technology assessments (HTAs) are keen to address disparities in health care. But the COVID-19 pandemic and recent prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement have cast a bright spotlight on structural racism in the US and elsewhere, showing that addressing health disparities after they are established is both too late and…
A perspective paper published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association outlined barriers to health equity research serving deaf and hard-of-hearing patients, and how EHRs may be making such barriers worse. Although EHR systems can be useful when it comes to identifying health inequities, researchers noted that they may also be interfering…
Welcome to the “Lessons from the C-suite” series, featuring Advisory Board President Eric Larsen’s conversations with the most influential leaders in health care. In this edition, Dr. Steve Klasko, CEO of Jefferson Health, talks with Eric about revelations in a Barnes & Noble, navigating “principled” growth, and how he approaches health care through an “old…
People often confuse health equity with health equality, but it’s vital that healthcare professionals understand the difference. Health equality essentially means giving every person the same thing, while health equity means giving people what they need to reach the best possible outcome. This, of course, is an important distinction, as social determinants of health (SDoH) often dictate the needs…
The world has witnessed the roll out of multiple effective COVID-19 vaccines. Yet, COVID-19 continues to be an unprecedented challenge, unpinning societies, economies, and health systems. While vaccine campaigns are underway in high-income countries, there is an urgent need to ensure vaccines are prioritized for deployment in low- and middle-income countries. As new, potentially vaccine-resistant variants emerge…
Many healthcare workers experience social determinants of health, with new data published in Health Affairs particularly outlining disparities in food insecurity between healthcare support staff and clinical staff. Although food insecurity is lower among the total healthcare worker population than the rest of the United States, healthcare support staff are significantly more likely to experience food insecurity…
Decades in the making, the transition to value-based care may soon be complete. In June, Liz Fowler, the new deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and director of its Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), suggested that CMS may soon require providers to be reimbursed based on patient outcomes. This…
For South Texas Physician’s Alliance, social determinants of health referral has been a learning experience. The organization, which has joined providers across the country in efforts to address social determinants of health, knew the best solution was connecting patients to social services providers. A patient presenting with food insecurity needs a referral to a food…
Covid-19 laid bare the long-standing vulnerability of minority and low-income communities in U.S. society and its health system even as we celebrated the power of scientific innovation to rein in the pandemic. It’s time to turn that innovation, driven by an even greater mind shift, to end inequality in treatment. In perhaps no condition is…