The struggle to make high-quality healthcare affordable for every American continues. Health inequities persist in underserved communities where access to care is often limited and where social determinants often impact health outcomes.
Disparities exist in the quality of healthcare received by minority populations. According to the Health Professionals for Diversity Coalition, the average wait time for patients who are African-American needing kidney transplants is almost twice as long as that of patients who are white. Such disparities translate into real health outcomes. Having diverse leadership in healthcare organizations is a powerful way to create change and advance equity.
Benefits of diverse healthcare leadership
Leadership diversity can help boost community health by investing in wellness development in areas of need. Recently recognized as a TIME Health 50 Most Influential People in Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard J. Tyson has dedicated his career in executive leadership to focusing on public health and preventative care.
This includes seeking to provide high-quality, affordable, accessible care to all its members. A diverse board of directors and leadership roles as exemplified by Kaiser can help to champion population health initiatives for underserved communities.
In a recent interview with Marketplace, Kaiser highlighted its efforts in improving the health of diverse populations. By targeting communities by zip code, Kaiser provides proactive and culturally competent care while focusing on the local determinants of health.
This includes going into trusted environments to talk about health and healthcare.
Forecast for a diversified future
Pursuing quality care and health equity for diverse populations needs to be more than a separate program. Diversity, inclusion, and equity must be core organizational values within all levels of healthcare management. In serving today’s diverse communities, healthcare leaders should focus on the following 4 tips:
#1: Effectively engage with communities.
As representatives of a healthcare system, those in leadership positions should actively engage in open dialogue with:
- women and people of color
- those who are neurodivergent
- those who speak different languages
- those who are veterans
- those who are members of the LBGTQ+ community
- those from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds
Connecting with these communities and others will give them a say in developing policies that impact their lives and health.
#2: Expand the diversity of the organization’s governance body.
Members of healthcare leadership should represent and be responsive to the diverse populations they serve. Such leadership ensures that providing quality healthcare and pursuing equity become part of the organization’s environment, policies, and practices.
It is fundamental for board members as well as all levels of management to work toward increasing diversity among their ranks and to actively welcome diversity at the table.
#3: Strengthen a diverse workforce.
Leaders should promote an HR program that recruits, orients, and trains staff to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate and competent care. Having a health system workforce that reflects the diverse cultures, ethnicities, and lifestyles of the communities it serves is powerful.
It contributes to the development of strategies that are more inclusive for delivering healthcare throughout America.
#4: Deliver culturally and linguistically competent services.
Hospital boards and members of leadership through healthcare organizations should ensure that staff communicate with patients and families in their own languages. It should also be responsive to patients with individualized and cultural needs.
We are transitioning to a value-based, patient-centric care system, and patients know it. They are rightfully demanding more: more personalized services, more open communication, and higher levels of rapport. They want to feel comfortable with their healthcare providers and care teams.
The bottom line
With the increase in diverse communities on the rise, healthcare professionals will be tasked with caring for many patients whose backgrounds differ from their own. It’s critical that providers maintain a firm understanding of differences.
From different systems of belief and cultural biases to ethnic origins, family structures, patients are different when it comes to:
- experiencing illness
- heeding medical advice
- responding to treatment plans
Leaders must promote health equity as integral to the operational environment and strategic planning process of a healthcare organization. It is then that they will see genuine health reform with an emphasis on improved health status for all communities.
For more on diversity healthcare, check out our video:
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