Health equity is not only a moral necessity, but also a strategic and operational must for healthcare leaders and organizations. Health equity aligns with legal and ethical obligations, enhances an organization’s reputation, contributes to the long-term success and sustainability of the organization and improves patient outcomes.
Providing equitable care involves recognizing and addressing the diverse needs, backgrounds and circumstances of individuals to ensure that all residents receive the same high-quality care and opportunities for well-being. The American Medical Association (AMA) implemented the ‘Advancing Equity Through Quality and Safety Peer Network’ to bring together committed individuals to foster sharing, learning and growth as it comes to better understanding and serving all patients.
As part of this Series, AMA Vice President for Equitable Health Systems and Innovation, Dr. Sivashanker, moderated a conversation with Dr. Aderonka Akingbola, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Oschner Health System and Dr. Judy Washington, Associate Chief Medical Officer at Atlantic Medical Group and the Women’s Health Coordinator for Overlook Family Medicine. Through this dialogue, we learn how their organizations and health systems are making intentional efforts to address inadequacies in patient care by looking at care, outcomes and harms through a health equity lens.
It is well worth 47 minutes of time to listen to the recording to better understand the unique perspectives, challenges and growth of these leaders that can be replicated within any organization.
In summary, a focus on these five areas in your work will lend to an advancement in health equity:
- Integrating equity into all harm-event reporting. Health care organizations can start by systematically collecting and tracking harm events where discrimination or bias may have been a contributing factor and applying an equity lens to reviewing all harm-event data in quality, safety, risk and patient experience.
- Equipping staff with the knowledge, skills and tools to create safe spaces. Doing so enables conversations about inequities in the quality and safety of care. This is needed when reviewing cases where bias or discrimination may have contributed to the harm.
- Collecting and using harm event data, segmented by sociodemographic characteristics. Gathering and stratifying harm-event data by race, ethnicity, age, language preference, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, and socioeconomic status—as identified by insurance type—makes inequities visible.
- Building the will for urgent action by senior leaders. Leadership commitment is crucial in the adoption of new practices and behaviors. Data by itself can sometimes be desensitizing and ineffective in moving people to action. The individual stories of people who have been harmed while providing or receiving care, however, can effectively move leaders to action.
- Ensuring accountability to historically marginalized communities. Acknowledging and addressing past and present harms is critical, as is sharing power to design and evaluate solutions.
This candid conversation offers insightful perspective on the need to establish buy-in and support from all levels of the organization; the value of committed persons with various backgrounds and experiences coming to the table to discuss complex challenges; gaining patients’ trust and seeking honest feedback; and the realization change requires personal transformation and a desire to do better.
Achieving optimal health for all – Join the AMA Movement:
“We aspire to have uniform excellent quality and safety for our patients,” said AMA Executive Vice President and CEO James L. Madara, MD. “Yet, in the absence of equity—if you think about it—this is impossible to accomplish. That lack of equity is a glass ceiling for our efforts in quality and safety.”
Source:
American Medical Association; Focus on these 5 areas in your work to advance health equity; Andis Robeznieks – August 2023
To learn more about Health Equity, check out our podcast, Q-Tips For Your Ears
Health Equity – What it is and Why it is Important
Familiarize yourself with what health equity is and learn about some of the different areas that influence an individual or a communities in achieving their best health.