Health equity is everyone’s business.Success requires community voice and data-informed strategies

Health equity affects us all, directly or indirectly. Lack of fairness can drive us into financial crisis. Health equity is a fair and just opportunity for all individuals to achieve their full potential in all aspects of health and well-being. Health inequalities cost us $320 billion annually. Without change, that number could reach $1 trillion by 2040.

In 2001, the National Academy of Medicine published crossing the valley of quality, This emphasized equitable care as a health care priority. Since that report, many health care organizations have focused on health equity, but the care patients receive (and the outcomes they experience) still depend on race, age, income, ethnicity, gender, and gender. It may vary greatly depending on the zip code.

Considering this: Nearly 80% of hospitals and health systems say they ask their patients about their housing needs. However, only 32% of these organizations connect patients to services to address identified needs. This gap presents an opportunity for hospital and health system leaders, employers, communities and her partners to envision new care and welfare approaches and new business models that enable trusted, sustainable and equitable care. I’m here.

As health care providers, and often the largest employers in the communities they serve, hospitals and health systems are usually well placed to promote health equity directly through the care they provide. , progress upstream in prevention and influence health drivers that influence health outcomes.

There are four key actions to consider to address health equity between employees and officials (internal) and patients and the communities they serve (external).

1. 1. Organization: Effectively addressing health disparities within communities requires organizational strategies to address employee diversity, equity and inclusion.
   2. Offering: Having an impartial lens through which patients look at the services available is essential to eliminating the inequities associated with access to quality care. Value-based payment models that provide financial incentives for quality and results enable equitable care delivery models.
   3. community: By establishing relationships with trusted local organizations, you can gain insight into residents’ lived experiences. This could lead to collaborations to improve health equity. Healthcare organizations should look for ways to integrate their data with data and real-world experience from their partners in the community.
   4. Ecosystem: Hospitals and healthcare systems, health plans, suppliers, vendors, and non-profit community organizations all recognize that they are part of the healthcare ecosystem. Health system leaders should seek to work with organizations that focus on diversity, inclusion and health equity.

Our research shows that the community health ecosystem will likely need additional partners, shared goals, technologies and metrics to advance the ongoing work. But most importantly, it will require more community member participation and leadership.

There is also a growing recognition that health equity should be a core part of environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies. The development of ESG frameworks and measurements has become important. Many hospitals and health systems already have the materials they need to lay the foundation for a healthy health equity strategy. But hospital and health system leaders say it can be difficult to navigate referrals to meet the social needs of the community.

CHNAs as Intelligence and the Foundation of Hospital Health Equity Strategies

Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs), outlined in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, provide tax-exempt hospitals and health care systems with the ability to identify perceived health problems in their communities and perform quantitative analysis of actual health problems. implementation and evaluation of existing efforts. Address these issues and develop future action plans. The Code was created to help hospitals understand the needs of their communities, see if they are spending money appropriately, and document it. The IRS expects hospital executives to use her CHNA to benchmark themselves and evaluate their efforts.

CHNA can be a useful tool in assessing issues affecting community health, but hospital executives may be missing out on a key opportunity. CHNA can be a powerful tool for determining where to make community-based investments. Data collected at CHNA, combined with other information, may help guide community health strategies. This information also helps us identify local organizations that may be able to help. Consider a region with an unusually high diabetic population and high diabetes-related amputations. Peeling the onion of that community may reveal numerous liquor stores, limited green space, a shortage of primary care providers, and few places to buy affordable healthy food. Some amputations could have been avoided if the model offered clinicians financial incentives to focus on prevention and health rather than the number of procedures performed. We know that social issues and the environment can affect health.Questions that help assess these risks can inform community health strategies, investments, and collaborations for better health outcomes.

Hospital-CBO Collaboration as a Scale Multiplier

Hospitals and community-based organizations (CBOs) often have competing priorities and different cultures. Hospitals can play an important co-convening role with CBOs. As such, it is important for hospital leaders to outline strategies, roles, and expectations when building partnerships with community groups. For example, in 2016 Indiana University Health created a memorandum of understanding in partnering with local food banks to distribute healthy foods to areas with high rates of food insecurity.

In Chicago, the Alliance for Health Equity built bridges between hospitals and their communities. The Alliance is a community of 37 hospitals working with the health sector and over 100 of his CBOs to improve health equity, wellness and quality of life. The group jointly created his CHNA to summarize the health needs facing the population and determine how to address those needs.

In Virginia, three hospitals worked together to identify and address social issues that are negatively impacting community members. The hospital has developed a unique process of community visioning, in which community members candidly share their observations and ideas with hospital employees. They determined that unemployment was the most important health factor that needed to be addressed. The Supporting East End Entrepreneur Development (SEED) program was created to help revitalize neighborhoods through partnerships with Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Virginia and local health systems. Each hospital agreed to donate $150,000 a year to the program for three years. Launched in 2011, the program provides grants of up to $25,000 to individuals looking to expand or start a business in the Church Hill area. Through this program, 14 SMEs received training and financial support. This not only improved economic mobility, but also had a positive impact on the health of residents.

• Trinity Health created the Transforming Communities Initiative (TCI) to improve health and well-being at eight participating sites. TCI relied on community partnerships focused on policy, system, and environment (PSE) change strategies.
• Data assets such as the March of Dimes Maternity Care Deserts Dashboard, A more comprehensive view of the desert location of maternity care can be provided. The dashboard also provides information on the relationship between obstetric care deserts and health problems related to race/ethnicity, income status, and chronic health inequalities among women of childbearing age.

The Future of Health Equity: Pace of Change and Sustainability

Health inequality is a chronic condition in America manifested in poverty, discrimination, prejudice, wealth inequality, and injustice. Many health systems and plans have mission statements that emphasize equity and health in their communities. Some organizations have health equity leaders, diversity departments, and/or teams in place for years.

What is new is the momentum to change the status quo, alignment among stakeholders, and the demand for accountability. The Covid-19 pandemic combined with demonstrations over social injustice has prompted many organizations to step up their efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion. The aim is that this work is a long journey, not an instant, and is based on trust. Trust is key to accelerating the pace of change and achieving sustainability.

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Editor’s Note: The authors have confirmed that none of the entities named in the article are clients of Deloitte. They are collaborators of the Deloitte Health Equity Institute.