Healthcare Executive talks with Victoria W. “Tori” Bayless, FACHE, CEO, Luminis Health, Annapolis, Md., on the importance of health equity and her organization’s approach to ensure disparities in healthcare quality and access are eliminated.
Here is what she had to say.
Q: Why is the topic of health equity in healthcare important to professional development?
A: Understanding inequities in health and society and the responsibility organizations have to reduce disparities allows individuals to grow into business-savvy, culturally competent leaders. As leaders of a healthcare system, it is crucial to recognize disparities in the community you serve and in the workforce you hire and lead, and to create a more inclusive environment for both patients and employees.
Q: How have you mastered health equity in your organization?
A: In 2019, the American Hospital Association recognized the Anne Arundel Medical Center with the Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award for creating a systematic approach to improving health equity. These efforts resulted in 100 percent race, ethnicity and language data collection to identify and respond to disparities; interviewing diverse candidates for 100 percent of leadership positions, with 50 percent of those diverse candidates being hired; being recognized by the Human Rights Campaign as a Health Equality Index top performer; and increasing the diversity of the health system’s governing board from 14 to 29 percent. In 2013, when our analytics team identified a “hot spot” of high utilizers, we responded by building a clinic with community partners in a low-income apartment building that reduced readmissions by 25 percent. While we have made important strides, we have not mastered health equity, and we continue to develop strategies to improve it.
Health Equity Q&A With Macchione
Check out Macchione's views on the same topic.