As we work to engage underserved communities in active, value-based care, we need to find ways to provide more granular data that accurately and accurately reflect the communities we serve. In a country so unequal, there is no more pressing issue than promoting equity in care.
Therefore, follow the appropriate theme”Black Health and Wellness“This year’s Black History Month, I think it’s time to reflect on the challenges of population health management that continue to undermine the health of African Americans and other underserved populations.
we do not need more data we need better one data
As our industry’s understanding of health inequalities moves beyond yesterday’s theoretical arguments based on the various downstream impacts of access to care and poverty, we look to data and analysis to inform new approaches. Future work includes further exploration of the ways in which poverty affects health behaviours and the role that patient data (or lack thereof) can play in influencing outcomes.
The answer lies in this overlap, which is why the volume and accuracy of patient data should be our primary concern. This includes, for example, an informed approach to supporting reimbursement and treatment decisions, and mitigating the effects of self-selection by mining patient medical histories.
Marginalized groups have fewer interactions with healthcare facilities than their economically more advantaged peers; our model needs to take this into account. With better data, risk models yield better insights—a key condition if payers are to successfully synchronize reimbursement structures with symptom-targeted diagnosis and treatment.
Guided by Black History Month’s focus on “many ways of knowing”—from Western medicine to midwives, midwives, midwives, and naturopaths—I was reminded that our quest for more access to information is based on human beings always knowing more instinct. All knowledge-based pursuits generate tremendous value.
things you do not know will hurt you
As the healthcare field continues to focus on eliminating health disparities, we see a wide variety of activity, from research to product implementation. However, there is a problem with the fundamental structure of our healthcare system. Our costs far exceed other countries, and our results lag far behind.
This failure is the product of a dysfunctional feedback loop and little standardization. A system conceived by independent private-sector actors, influenced more by market forces than a desire to cooperate, leaves us with a legacy of inconsistent state legislation, payer directives, and privacy regulations. It’s a system that only Rube Goldberg could be proud of.
This fragmented, inefficient and expensive system affects vulnerable groups the most. Just look at the bill from your last visit to the hospital or clinic. Deciphering what’s being paid, by whom, and what you owe requires a level of sophistication that even those of us in the healthcare industry lack. For people less fortunate than us, one can only imagine the frustration and feeling of being disenfranchised.
The mission of healthcare leaders needs to focus on creating a platform to accelerate the transformation of this system so that products and solutions can address our fragmented landscape. For example, by integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning into products, we can remove barriers to collaboration. With the healthy exchange of information, we begin to rebuild the foundations of healthcare piece by piece.
We know that some patients have difficulty making appointments due to a lack of reliable transportation. We know that some patients have low levels of trust in medical professionals due to a history of abuse. We know that access to technical and medical information varies widely among different groups of people. Armed with this knowledge, we have a responsibility to use the data we collect and the technological tools at our disposal to address these issues and make healthcare more accessible.
provider paradox
There is no question that healthcare providers practice in an environment fraught with factors that complicate the delivery of value-based care. Value-based care inherently requires its time-sensitivity, location-specificity, and patient-determined response.
Good results depend on the provider’s ability to seamlessly adjust a dynamic set of variables. Work like this relies on access to data that can establish consistency, continuity and scalability in their practice.
How can providers successfully engage marginalized communities without good information? Once involved, how does the same provider decide when which treatment works best? Difficulties posed by insufficient data hold back therapists.
By providing better, more granular data, providers, patients and payers can enjoy a streamlined, cost-effective healthcare experience. This is a triple crown victory.
new model, new data
Risk models play a huge role in how compensation and health vulnerabilities are determined. Therefore, it is important to work on improving the algorithms that analyze and inform these risk models.
Today, the models used by payers are not high enough to generate well-functioning billing and treatment agreements. Incorrect conclusions based on insufficient data can have disastrous consequences for the entire healthcare organization. Physicians are unable to provide appropriate treatment for emerging symptoms because reimbursement issues arise when patient records do not exactly match a highly prescribed symptom cluster.
As a practicing physician, I know that disease is both unified and individual. No two patients will perform exactly the same; therefore, value-based care becomes difficult to achieve when payer regulations require the same accounting.
inspiring change
There are many resources to draw inspiration from on the journey towards health equity. People of all backgrounds suffer from lack of coverage, geographic isolation, and busy signals that make active engagement with providers nearly impossible.
As better data leads the era of collaboration, we can expect more productive and open relationships with the communities that need it most. But as long as there is disproportionate demand, we must take steps to provide equal opportunity and care for all.
Photo: Angelina Child, Getty Images
