Michael Thompson, president and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions (National Alliance), addressed the current state of health equity strategies in the workplace and how employers can better address inequities in their benefit designs, programs, and policies in the near future.
Findings from National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions’ (National Alliance) Pulse of the Purchaser Fall 2022 Survey presented at their recent Annual Forum showed that 41% of surveyed employers are reviewing and addressing the role of workplace policies regarding health equity, with another 24% planning to do so.
In this interview, Michael Thompson, president and CEO of the National Alliance, spoke on how strategies against health inequities are still in their infancy and what steps are needed over the next decade to improve health equity in the workplace.
Transcript
How do you foresee the evolution of health equity strategies in the workplace over the next decade and what efforts can help accelerate their implementation?
Health equity has risen into our vernacular at a record-high level, at least as we're having conversations with coalitions, employers, and other stakeholders. But frankly, we're barely on first base on health equity. I think initially, it's really about understanding better, what are the issues that we need to be addressing and how do we get there? How do we actually mitigate disparities and inequities in the system that we're dealing with?
Very few employers have carried that all the way down the track where they've actually started to systematically root out inequities in their designs, programs, or policies. But we do see more employers starting down that path and planning to do so in the next few years.
We believe that there's a logical change process underway, where it starts with understanding what the issues are, then examining the “as is.” What are we doing? How are we supporting or contributing to inequities? And then taking action, but even as we take action amongst ourselves, I think the other role that employers can and will take is influencing the rest of the system to take this seriously and own the issue in their own spheres.
One of the comments that we have shared with coalitions and employers is, if you do nothing else, ask everybody you deal with, your health plans, your other intermediaries, your service providers, what are you doing about health equity? If purchasers set the tone at the top, the rest of the system will follow.
But let's get real and let's have an impact. We know that we are constantly learning about the issues. They're very complex in some instances, but being more conscious and mission driven around equity will make a difference over time. And I think the system that we're building going forward will not be based on averages, but will be oriented towards variation in outcomes.
Tackling Health Inequality: The Power of Education and Experience
April 30th 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. Welcome to our final episode of this limited series and our conversation with Janine Jelks-Seale, MSPPM, director of health equity at UPMC Health Plan.
Listen
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen
Virtual Reality and Biofeedback Training Appear Effective for DMD, BMD Rehabilitation
April 29th 2024A recent study suggests virtual reality and biofeedback training may be feasible and effective for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD).
Read More