Health equity became an increasingly important topic this past year. There has been a significant increase in initiatives from legislators and policymakers, as well as increased funding toward historically underserved groups. We reported on Feb. 28 that “Washington has become the second state to begin to create Health Equity Zones to support communities in addressing…
The Rise to Health Coalition seeks to catalyze individuals and organizations committed to health equity and justice. WHY IT MATTERS Dr. Kedar Mate, president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, announced the new coalition at the recent IHI Forum 2022 in Orlando, Florida. Joined by Dr. Aletha Maybank, chief health equity officer and senior…
Published in Circulation: Heart Failure, a recent study conducted by Northwestern Medicine researchers found that adding social determinants of health (SDOH) data into machine learning models led to less bias when predicting outcomes for heart failure patients. Healthcare bias can lead to detrimental outcomes for patients. For example, in April, a study published in PLOS digital health found that digital health…
Health equity in America is a vast topic, and I’m sure there are people much more expert in this area than I am. However, as a Black man, and as the CEO of a healthcare technology company that works with thousands of clinical organizations, I believe it’s my obligation to learn, speak out, and take…
The nonprofit National Committee for Quality Assurance has revised quality measures for health plans in the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) for measurement year 2023. NCQA has added race/ethnicity stratifications and made revisions to acknowledge and affirm member gender identity. Collecting race and ethnicity data is key to improving health disparities, NCQA said….
Over the past few years, we have seen an increase in tech-based approaches to improving maternal outcomes and the birthing journey. While most women still have in-person visits to check the progress of their pregnancy, deliver or check-in following delivery, technology can expand the reach of health care services. Digital solutions, including remote patient monitoring,…
An integrated county health system that spent more than $22 million on a social needs case management program for its adult Medicaid patients was rewarded with significant reductions in hospital admissions and a minor dip in emergency department visits, according to a new study published this week in Annals of Internal Medicine. However, reduced utilization…
The role of homecare providers is central as the industry transitions to value-based care. Rather than reimbursing providers based on the quantity of services delivered, value-based care rewards providers for the quality of their services and their impact on member outcomes. However, when considering factors that impact the health of a member receiving care in…
In potentially a sign of evolving patient expectations of care, more and more younger people are looking for their providers to ask them about their social needs, or conduct social determinants of health screenings, according to surveying from the University of Michigan. Using data from the MyVoice National Poll of Youth, the researchers determined that…
Increasingly, healthcare organizations are starting to design social determinants of health screening processes. Coming as a response to value-based care trends, social determinants of health screenings help clinicians and organization leaders understand the social issues affecting the health and wellness of the organization’s unique patient population. Those insights can inform the community health partnerships the…