Achieving Health Equity in Healthcare Requires Investment, Data, and Better Educational Tools

 

Achieving health equity has been a long-term challenge for the healthcare industry and a topic that has received more national and global attention since the COVID-19 pandemic. Marginalized communities in particular face deep disparities when trying to access healthcare and in their health outcomes. According to the Harvard Business Review, when compared to their white counterparts:

  • Black persons are 30 percent more likely to die from heart disease
  • Hispanic women are 30 percent more likely to die from cervical cancer, and
  • Native American and Alaska Natives infant mortality is 60 percent higher.

COVID-19 exposed the longstanding social determinants of health such as class, race, and education level. Data from the Harvard School of Public Health, for example, showed that more Black persons in the USA were dying from COVID-19 than whites, even though they make a smaller percentage of the population.

Healthcare inequities were exacerbated by the pandemic. Now there is an increased urgency to invest in health equity, and to track and address social determinants of health. Stacey Caywood, CEO of Wolters Kluwer Health, discusses the three steps her organization is taking to address the ongoing challenge of achieving health equity.

 

Stacey’s Thoughts 

“At Wolters Kluwer, this is in our DNA: To deliver the best care everywhere. We’re focusing our efforts in three key areas. First, we have a US and global donation program, working with partners like Ariadne Labs to provide more access to the best evidence no matter where you live. Second, we know you can’t fix health equity if you can’t find it, and you need health data to do that. Our health language team is mapping that disparate data to make sense of it, to help populations that are most at risk. Lastly, delivering the best care everywhere starts at the core content and tools that clinicians are using every day. This means reducing unconscious bias in those resources that can negatively impact patient care decisions. This also applies to supporting the training and the delivery that’s needed, so that everyone has access to the best care, one improved decision at a time.”

Article written by Angela Thoma.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

Brand experience with APL
Stepping into the Future at Shoptalk 2024: Creating a Flagship Brand Experience with APL
March 28, 2024

The customers of today are no longer satisfied with mere products; they crave brands that provide immersive, distinctive, and tailored brand experiences. Athletic Propulsion Labs (APL) epitomizes this shift, setting a new standard in the luxury performance market with its innovative athletic footwear. APL’s newly opened flagship boutique in Soho, with its artisan plaster walls […]

Read More
Balancing professional growth and personal well-being
Routines, Rituals and a Mission-Driven Approach: MarketScale’s CRO Tim Maitland on Balancing Professional Growth and Personal Well-Being
March 28, 2024

In a world that often demands the relentless pursuit of success, finding the sweet spot between professional growth and personal well-being can seem like an elusive goal. As we navigate the complexities of modern work-life dynamics, the conversation around maintaining this balance has become more pertinent than ever. In this episode of Growthwell, we […]

Read More
marketing careers
The Impact of AI on Marketing Careers
March 28, 2024

In this episode of The Marketing AI SparkCast, host Aby Varma, a B2B Marketing Leader and the Founder of Spark Novus, sits down with Matt Gill, the Founder and Managing Partner of MICA Consulting Group. Spark Novus is a consultancy specializing in strategic AI adoption in marketing. MICA is a leading boutique national marketing […]

Read More
healthcare cybersecurity
Continued Threats Require a Major Shift in Healthcare Cybersecurity Risk Perception
March 28, 2024

Recent cyberattacks on healthcare institutions have thrust cybersecurity from a back-office concern to the forefront of the healthcare industry’s agenda. A significant breach at Change Healthcare disrupted essential services, underlining the vulnerability of healthcare networks to such threats and the dire consequences for patient care. Government and industry responses have stressed the importance of […]

Read More