The most recent U.S. Census data shows that people of color
comprise nearly 40% of the United States population.
People are very diverse, yet in healthcare everyone is treated as being the same. This can impede healthcare—as experiences differ widely, and bodies have various reactions to medications.
TAMPA BAY, Fla. (PRWEB)
October 11, 2021
The most recent U.S. Census data shows that people of color, which includes African-Americans, Asians, American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and Hispanic or Latino people, comprise nearly 40% of the United States population.(1) Yet access to healthcare and systemic bias put these populaces at higher risk for poor and even fatal healthcare outcomes. African-American infants have a mortality rate of nearly 2.5 times higher than white infants. Young Hispanic and African-American youth have a greater chance of death from diabetes.(2) One hundred years of studies point to healthcare disparities having real and often tragic consequences—but, enter healthcare “Equalizer” Dr. Maria Hernandez, President and COO of Impact4Health, who elaborates to Karla Jo Helms, host of the Disruption Interruption podcast that the pandemic only recently made it impossible to deny the huge disparities in health outcomes.
After the passage of the Affordable Care Act and realizing health consultants were all talking about cost of care, but none were talking about diversity (nor equity), Dr. Hernandez said THAT’S IT—I’M DONE WITH THE STATUS QUO—people being treated the same in healthcare despite it not working among certain population groups. She created The Inclusion SCORECARD for Population Health™, an interactive online dashboard of best practices that health systems can use to solve their healthcare inequities.
Maria Hernandez explains:
1. The most vital element of disruption is understanding the “unintended” consequences. Examine the long-term effects of what you intend to bring to the table.
2. The innovations in healthcare come from those who are incredibly persistent, dedicated, and able to traverse the vast apparatus of healthcare.
3. Healthcare has just started to look closely at a century of inequities among minorities.
4. People are very diverse, yet in healthcare everyone is treated as being the same. This can impede healthcare—as experiences differ widely, and bodies have various reactions to medications.
5. A law passed in California in 2020 requires that anyone working in the OB-GYN field must attend an unconscious bias course to avoid decisions that could negatively affect births.
6. And, as healthcare information affects equity transformations in healthcare, hospitals must be certain that this recorded data is protected from ransomware and other cyberattacks.
Disruption Interruption is the podcast where you’ll hear from today’s biggest Industry Disruptors. Learn what motivated them to bring about change and how they overcome opposition to adoption.
Disruption Interruption can be listened to via the Podbean app, and is available on Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
About Disruption Interruption:
Disruption is happening on an unprecedented scale, impacting all manner of industries— MedTech, Finance, IT, eCommerce, shipping and logistics, and more—and COVID has moved their timelines up a full decade or more. But WHO are these disruptors and when did they say, “THAT’S IT! I’VE HAD IT!”? Time to Disrupt and Interrupt with host Karla Jo “KJ” Helms, veteran communications disruptor. KJ interviews bad a**es who are disrupting their industries and altering economic networks that have become antiquated with an establishment resistant to progress. She delves into uncovering secrets from industry rebels and quiet revolutionaries that uncover common traits—and not-so-common—that are changing our economic markets… and lives. Visit the world’s key pioneers that persist to success, despite arrows in their backs at http://www.disruptioninterruption.com.
About Karla Jo Helms:
Karla Jo Helms is the Chief Evangelist and Anti-PR(TM) Strategist for JOTO PR Disruptors(TM).
Karla Jo learned firsthand how unforgiving business can be when millions of dollars are on the line—and how the control of public opinion often determines whether one company is happily chosen, or another is brutally rejected. Being an alumni of crisis management, Karla Jo has worked with litigation attorneys, private investigators and the media to help restore companies of goodwill back into the good graces of public opinion—Karla Jo operates on the ethic of getting it right the first time, not relying on second chances and doing what it takes to excel. Helms speaks globally on public relations, how the PR industry itself has lost its way and how, in the right hands, corporations can harness the power of Anti-PR to drive markets and impact market perception.
About Impact4Health:
Impact4Health is a multidisciplinary team of community psychologists, public health researchers, physicians and health educators who promote health equity, working in partnership with hospitals, public health departments, and healthcare insurance providers. Strategies employed include training in cross-cultural health, inclusive leadership, and implementing the Inclusion Scorecard for Population Health. Impact4Health is also a leader in the development of health-related Pay for Success initiatives to address asthma-related emergencies for children living in vulnerable communities. For more information, please visit us as http://www.Impact4Health.com.
1. Bureau, US Census. Census.gov, 2021, census.gov/.
2. “Fact Sheet: The Need for Diversity in the Health Care Workforce .” Health Professionals for Diversity Coalition, aapcho.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/NeedForDiversityHealthCareWorkforce.pdf.
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