The Institute for Health Improvement and the American Medical Association are forming an alliance to bring together hundreds of health systems, companies, and organizations with the goal of developing a cohesive approach to patient care. fairer and eliminate areas of inequality and bias.
The Rise to Health Alliance, formed in partnership with groups such as the American Hospital Association and Race Forward, a network focused on striving towards racial equality, will also include providers individual levels, insurers, professional associations and pharmaceutical, research and biotechnology organizations to share solutions and take collective action, the institute announced Tuesday.
Kedar Mate, the institute’s president and chief executive officer, said that by using quality improvement methods and safety tools to address equity issues, the healthcare industry can reduce reduce the emotional trauma and burnout experienced by physicians as a result of barriers that prevent them from providing equitable care. the group’s annual forum in Orlando.
“When the care and treatment of patients can be improved, healthcare workers feel less helpless and can find more joy in the work they do,” he said.
Key areas of focus for coalition members will include: dedicating institutional resources to prioritizing equity; understand how their organization has engaged in local history of unfair or discriminatory practices; create datasets to identify areas of greatest clinical inequality; concrete actions to reduce inequality; and partner with community groups to achieve their equity goals.
The levers different members use to create change will vary depending on their type of organization. For example, a drug company could develop programs to make drugs more affordable, Mate said.
Each alliance member will have access to guidance and tools from the AMA and institute to help them take evidence-based actions specific to their organization.
Mate said seventy health systems have joined the alliance.
“The most important thing that we will do is count the number of organizations that have adopted the framework we are describing,” he told reporters. “One of the key requirements for their participation is to show what actions they have taken to reduce specific inequalities in their environment.”
The institute is working with a number of other groups for the alliance, including the National Association of Community Health Centers, the American Health Insurance Plan, and the Council of Societies of Medical Specialties.
