Reducing Disparities in Health Outcomes News

AHA urged leaders of the House (LINK) and Senate (LINK) Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education to give favorable funding consideration in fiscal year 2024 to health care programs shown to improve access to quality health care for patients and communities.  

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration invites community-based organizations to apply through June 8 to participate in its Behavioral Health Equity Challenge, which will award 10 organizations up to $50,000 each for their innovative strategies to help underserved racial and ethnic communities access behavioral health services.

By taking a holistic approach and addressing the social determinants of health, ProMedica is working to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.

AHA on May 8 will release “Rebuilding a New Minneapolis: From Tragedy to Transformation,” a short film in which six Minneapolis hospital leaders discuss how the summer of 2020 shaped the future of their work, and how that moment in time impacted their organization.

The Health Equity Roadmap, launched in March 2022 by the AHA's Institute for Diversity and Health Equity, has now crossed the 1,000-member mark in engaged participants.

On this episode, I talk with Marcos Pesquera, system vice president for community health and chief diversity officer at CHRISTUS Health, headquartered in Irving, Texas.

Two experts from Seattle’s Swedish Hospital explain the role that doulas serve in prenatal and postpartum care, and how physicians and doulas can work together to reduce maternal and infant health disparities

As the COVID-19 public health emergency’s continuous coverage requirement ends and states redetermine eligibility for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollees, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights yesterday reminded state health officials of their obligations under federal civil right laws to provide meaningful language access for individuals with limited English proficiency and ensure effective communication with individuals with disabilities. 

The Department of Health and Human Services April 3 released a national plan to advance the fight against cancer, which includes strategies to prevent cancer, detect cancers early, develop effective treatments, eliminate inequities, engage people in cancer research, deliver optimal care, maximize data utility and optimize the cancer care and research workforce.

One year ago, we asked hospitals and health systems to participate in an important effort – AHA’s Health Equity Roadmap.

As we close out Women’s History Month, reflecting on the trailblazing women who have advanced modern medicine, and prepare for National Minority Health Month in April, we also should consider what we can do as health care professionals to create even more opportunities for women across our industry, particularly for women of color.

In the first of two new blogs in the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity’s monthly series highlighting Black women health care leaders, Dana Weston Graves, president of Sentara Princess Anne Hospital, discusses the importance of advocacy and being the person she needed in her life when she was younger to support others like her. The second blog, by Jandel Allen-Davis, MD, president and CEO of Craig Hospital, discusses why she is a “warrior” when helping support historically marginalized communities.

Health delivery organizations are invited to apply through May 17 for the 2024 Foster G. McGaw Prize, which honors organizations that demonstrate a strategic approach to community health and health equity, improve access to care for historically marginalized communities and address societal factors that influence health. One winner and three finalists will receive cash awards.

In a new blog post from the AHA's Institute for Diversity and Health Equity, Janice E. Nevin, M.D., president and CEO of ChristianaCare and a member of the AHA Board of Trustees, discusses Delaware hospitals’ commitment to take the Health Equity Transformation Assessment and why she believes health equity is vital.

Kate Blackburn, director of practice and prevention at Nemours Children’s Health, describes a new tool that can help hospitals and health systems identify the most impactful partnerships to drive progress and advance health.

AHA's Institute for Diversity and Health Equity on March 6 held its latest Health Equity Innovation Summit for AHA’s Region 7 (with members from Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana). The event brought together C-suite hospital leaders, community members and patient advocates to explore regional challenges and co-develop potential solutions to accelerate actions to advance health equity.

For Women’s History Month, we turn the spotlight to a female-led venture capital firm that is out to change women’s lives for the better.

The Department of Health and Human Services today hosted the first daylong HHS Black Health Summit in Washington, D.C., where department officials highlighted federal, state and local efforts to eliminate health disparities and HHS resources to help advance health equity.

Nonprofit hospitals and health systems and other eligible entities can apply until April 14 for up to $2.5 million from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to support evidence-based interventions to prevent, diagnose and treat substance use disorders in primary care; and until April 21 for up to $2.5 million to support evidence-based interventions to accelerate health equity in health care delivery systems, among other funding opportunities

Adults receiving dialysis treatment for end-stage kidney disease were 100 times more likely to have a Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection than adults not on dialysis during 2017-2020, with the risk 40% higher for Hispanic patients than white patients, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.