Health Disparities

Building a Web of Trust to Overcome Health Disparities

Terris King, Sc.D., CEO of the Lukan Group, and pastor of Liberty Grace Church of God in Baltimore

This is a tale of three cities, or more accurately, two cities and a state, where partnerships between faith-based organizations and health systems — built on trust and mutual respect — are solving some of health care’s toughest challenges. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // An article titled “COVID and Race” appeared in the New Read More

A Medical Career Spent in Service of Improving Health Disparities

CommonSpirit

Growing up, Lloyd Dean saw the impact of health disparities in his own community. His experiences motivated him to use his formidable leadership abilities to change things for the better. He will retire this summer after a long and impactful career. “Imagine 11 people in a house of three bedrooms and being on welfare when Read More

A Champion for the Common Good

Lloyd Dean, president and CEO, CommonSpirit Health

View from the C-Suite, with Lloyd Dean, President and CEO of CommonSpirit Health // By Jane Weber Brubaker // Growing up, Lloyd Dean saw the impact of health disparities in his own community. His experiences motivated him to use his formidable leadership abilities to change things for the better. He will retire this summer after Read More

Looking Into the Root Causes Underlying Health Inequities

Ndome Yvonne Essoka

The “Three C’s of Health Equity” aim to enhance providers’ knowledge about the cultures or groups usually defined by racial/ethnic or sexual minority groups, says attorney Ndome Yvonne Essoka. Here’s an excerpt from her new article: In recent times, buzzwords like “cultural competence”, “cultural humility,” and “cultural safety” have grown in popularity and become rooted Read More

Beyond Cultural Competence: Cultural Humility, Cultural Safety, and Recommendations for Better Communication

Ndome Yvonne Essoka

// By Ndome Yvonne Essoka // The “Three C’s of Health Equity” aim to enhance providers’ knowledge about the cultures or groups usually defined by racial/ethnic or sexual minority groups. Safety and humility are key. In recent times, buzzwords like “cultural competence,” “cultural humility,” and “cultural safety” have grown in popularity and become rooted into Read More

Social Media Initiative Focuses on Positioning Advocate Aurora Health As a Provider of Choice Among Growing Hispanic Market

Sarah Scroggins, director, social media, Advocate Aurora Health

// By Brian Griffin // One of the Midwest’s largest health systems is effectively using social media to reach its Spanish-speaking population with information about COVID-19 and important health services for the community. As diversity, equity, and inclusion continue to increase in importance, Advocate Aurora Health has been making strong progress in connecting online with Read More

One Top Trend for 2022: Health Care at Home Is Booming

Wunderman Thompson Health

“The ability to attract, activate, and guide consumers through health care’s labyrinth depends not only on reimagining the business of health care but building relationships of value and trust that result in inspired, confident customers,” says Lindsay R. Resnick of Wunderman Thompson Health. Here’s an excerpt from his new article: Health care transformation was all Read More

Six Impact Trends for 2022: Health Care’s Transformation Journey Continues

Lindsay Resnick

// By Lindsay R. Resnick // The ability to attract, activate, and guide consumers through health care’s labyrinth depends not only on reimagining the business of health care but building relationships of value and trust that result in inspired, confident customers. Health care transformation was all the buzz throughout 2021. To be transformed means to Read More

Industry Leaders Reflect on the Unique Challenges of 2021

Mark Klein, senior vice president, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, Dignity Health

“For two years, marketing and communication professionals have faced the excruciating crisis of a pandemic nothing fully prepared us for,” says Rhoda Weiss, president of the Rhoda Weiss Consulting Group. “We’re changing how and from where we work, balancing dichotomies of layoffs and staff shortages, experiencing colleague and personal burnout, dealing with new and conflicting Read More

The Crucial Intersection of Public Health and Clinical Care

Lara Sim, director of Community Health and External Affairs, Seattle Children's Hospital

COVID testing. Vaccines. Health equity. Do they fall under public health or clinical care? In most cases, it’s both, or should be. The gap between hospital-based clinical care and public health is shrinking, as community health initiatives increasingly focus on wellness and prevention. Health systems typically function as separate entities. Nationwide, the drive for revenues and Read More

When Public Health Meets Collaborative Clinical Care, Good Things Happen

Joie McCracken, MPH, program manager for Public Health – Seattle & King County

// By Marcia Simon, APR // “Medicine and public health share a common mission … however, important differences have prevented their integration and effective working collaboration,” says the author of a 2020 NIH publication: Covid-19: An Imperative to Bridge the Gap Between Medicine and Public Health. The work of the King County Hospitals for a Read More

Looking Toward the Future by “Unscaling” Health Care

Jefferson Health

Things are changing when the CEO of a major health system comprising 14 hospitals — soon to be 18 — tosses around phrases like “health care at any address” and says things like, “We want to be the partner for those people who want to thrive without health care getting in the way.” The definition Read More

The Key That May Finally Unlock the Door to Health Care Transformation

Steve Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO of Jefferson Health and president of Thomas Jefferson University

View from the C-Suite: Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, President, Thomas Jefferson University and CEO, Jefferson Health // By Jane Weber Brubaker // There are two words Steve Klasko uses a lot: “What if…?” Like other visionary health system leaders, he’s scaling up to meet the reality of health care today, while at the same Read More

Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Easier Said Than Done?

José Rodríguez, MD, associate vice president for Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (HEDI), University of Utah School of Medicine

// By Marcia Simon, APR // Just the notion that groups of people are overlooked or marginalized means there’s much work to be done to level the playing field. The past year of glaring health disparities revealed that health care as an industry needs to step up and root out biases, even when unconscious, that Read More

Mentoring Program Creates Pipeline To Fill Health Care Leadership Roles

A few seminal moments led to the genesis of the Bluford Healthcare Leadership Institute (BHLI). Marketed as an intense professional development program, BHLI has a self-proclaimed mission to “eliminate health care disparities among minority and vulnerable populations by cultivating a pipeline of culturally competent under-represented scholars for leadership roles in health care.” John W. Bluford Read More

Transforming Care Delivery in a Post-COVID World

Toby Cosgrove, executive advisor and former CEO and president, Cleveland Clinic

View from the C-Suite: Toby Cosgrove, MD, Executive Advisor and Former CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic // By Jane Weber Brubaker // In an interview with StartUp Health co-founders, Dr. Toby Cosgrove shares his perspectives on what we’ve learned from the pandemic, how technology accelerated innovation, and how it will continue to open new Read More

How Partnerships Help ChristianaCare Keep Delaware Healthy

When Bettina Tweardy Riveros joined ChristianaCare as chief health equity officer in 2016, she assumed responsibility for engaging community stakeholders in partnerships that advance ChristianaCare’s vision for a healthy Delaware. According to Riveros, the guiding principles of building strong community partnerships can be summed up in the phrase “nothing about us, without us.” This method Read More

ChristianaCare Connects with Community Partners to Address Social Determinants of Health in Delaware

Ndome Yvonne Essoka

View from the C-Suite: Bettina Tweardy Riveros, Chief Health Equity Officer at ChristianaCare // By Ndome Yvonne Essoka // When Bettina Tweardy Riveros joined ChristianaCare as chief health equity officer in 2016, she assumed responsibility for engaging community stakeholders in partnerships that advance ChristianaCare’s vision for a healthy Delaware. According to Riveros, the guiding principles Read More

Filling In the Gaps Left By Telemedicine

Ann Mond Johnson, CEO, American Telemedicine Association

Telemedicine came to the rescue when COVID-19 first rattled the capacity and safety of health care delivery. It didn’t take long for hospitals, providers, and patients to embrace the conveniences, especially when federal waivers allowed for expanded access to virtual care services, and payers relaxed their reimbursement guidelines. But there’s a problem: The pandemic shed Read More