Ushering In The New Era Of Health Equity

Editor’s note: Joseph Betancourt is one of the theme advisors for the June 2017 Health Affairs equity theme issue. The passage of health care reform and current efforts in payment reform have fueled a significant transformation of the US health care system. An entire new set of structures is being developed to facilitate increased access to care that is cost-effective and high quality. High-value health care is the ultimate goal. Guided by the 2001 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Crossing the Quality Chasm, the nation has charted a path to deliver care that is safe, efficient, effective, timely, patient-centered, and equitable. There is no doubt that significant gains have been made in this effort, particularly in the area of patient safety. However, one key pillar of quality—achieving equitable care—has garnered significantly less attention than the others. Equity is the principle that quality of care should not vary based on patient characteristics such as race and ethnicity, gender, geographic location, or socioeconomic status. The inclusion of equity among the pillars of quality emerges from longstanding research that has identified disparities in health and health care based on all of these patient characteristics. For example, minorities are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with and die from diabetes compared to whites. There is little doubt that negative social determinants—such as lower levels of education, lower socioeconomic status, ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Featured Health Equity Population Health Quality MACRA Social Determinants of Health triple aim Source Type: blogs