The Rise to Health Alliance seeks to foster individuals and organizations that are committed to health equity and equity.
WHY IT IMPORTANT
Dr Kedar Mate, president and CEO of the Institute for Health Improvement, announced the new alliance at the recent IHI 2022 Forum in Orlando, Florida.
Together with Dr. Aletha Maybank, director of health equity and senior vice president of the American Medical Association, and Glenn Harris, president of Race Forward and publisher of Colorlines, the three healthcare leaders discussed the importance of Rise to Health, according to the IHI announcement.
According to the alliance’s new website, Rise to Health seeks to build, change, and transform healthcare. The Alliance will build capacity, expand knowledge, and mobilize to advance racial equality and justice in the healthcare ecosystem; influence and fundamentally change policy, payment, education, standards and practices; and sustainably change health care thinking and narratives around racial equity and equity.
Mate urged forum attendees to change the narrative: “America’s healthcare inequality is not our destiny, it’s fairness,” he said.
He reflects on the prevalence of burnout at all levels of healthcare, the financial challenges facing health systems, and the prevalence of health inequalities. health as related challenges. Mate also cites examples of how quality improvement methods can address inequality.
Other founding members of the coalition include the Groundwater Institute, the American Hospital Association, the National Association of Community Health Centers, the Council of Medical Specialties, Health Begins, and PolicyLink.
“By doing this together, we will change the story of equity from one of confusion and competition to one of hope, possibility, partnership and alignment,” said Mate.
The AMA, IHI, Genentech and the Commonwealth Fund are sponsoring the Rise to Health alliance.
TREND TO BIGGER WOMAN
Earlier this year, the AHA launched the Health Equity Roadmap, a customized framework of resources and action plans for health systems to work to remove barriers to care.
The organization points out that health inequalities are linked to economic losses, with more than $10 billion due to disease-related lost productivity and $200 billion due to premature death.
According to Melissa Sherry, vice president of social care integration at Unite Us, a technology company that builds coordinated care networks of social and health service providers, there are major barriers to entry. In healthcare, addressing the root causes of inequality is not enough to create change. .
Among the many examples she shared about health equity in action by 2022, she said quality measures related to health disparities and mandatory reporting requirements for health plans, hospitals, and health systems under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ health equity framework will help better understand how programs and policies affect inequality. health equality and disparities.
“While I’m really hopeful about the momentum we’re seeing in the healthcare industry to address health disparities and their underlying causes, there’s still work to be done,” Sherry said. . Healthcare IT News in the vision of health equity by 2023.
Because health disparities are multifaceted, many areas must work together to understand what’s working — and what’s not, she says.
“Identify and address basic societal needs; fund new, trusted workforces and community-based services; and ensure healthcare organizations play an active role. in measuring and resolving disparities are really important steps,” Sherry said. “But even taken together, they are not enough to address the complex causes behind health inequalities.”
ON PROFILE
“The time has come for a systems-wide approach – where healthcare organisations, individual practitioners, payers, professional associations, and pharmaceutical, research and biotechnology organizations work together. agree and align activities to make the entire healthcare ecosystem more equitable,” Mate said at the forum, according to the announcement.
“Improving the quality and equity of hospitals and health systems,” said Leon D. Caldwell, senior director of health equity strategy and innovation at the AHA Institute for Health Equity and Diversity and Equity. are integral to improving health outcomes for all”. alliance on the hospital association’s website.
Andrea Fox is the senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS.
