Healthcare executives must be intentional about including diversity, inclusion, and equity in their strategic plans to achieve the outcomes inherent in a value-based environment.
Editor's note: This article is based on a roundtable discussion report sponsored by Bank of America. The full report, The Role Diversity and Inclusion Play in Achieving Strategic Goals, is available as a free download.
When compared to other industries, healthcare organizations have lagged behind in incorporating diversity and inclusion into their strategic vision.
"At our company, we had our first Global Diversity and Inclusion Council in 1993. That's 25 years ago," says John Hesselmann, national head of specialized industries for Bank of America. "We have things that we have to work on, but I’d say at our company specifically, diversity and inclusion have been embedded in our culture longer than in the healthcare industry."
Bank of America sponsored the HealthLeaders Media Executive Roundtable panel discussion, "The Role Diversity and Inclusion Plays in Achieving Strategic Goals," held in Chicago in May.
Brenda Battle, RN, BSN, MBA, vice president of the Urban Health Initiative and chief diversity, inclusion, and equity officer at UChicago Medicine, agrees with that assessment.
"Healthcare has got some catching up to do. I've started up diversity and inclusion efforts now in two academic healthcare systems, both in St. Louis in 2006 and Chicago in 2012. I was one of the early pioneers with a few others who started in healthcare before me," she says. "I can’t say I know anyone in healthcare that has been doing diversity and inclusion since 1993. I started in 2006. In healthcare this represents a lot of experience in the space of diversity and inclusion."
Diversity and inclusion—the time is now
But as healthcare becomes more consumer-focused, more attention is being paid to the importance of diversity and inclusion.
"Coming from the for-profit world, diversity and inclusion was a business decision because you go after who your consumer is. I think that consumerism model is going to impact hospitals and healthcare systems and push them to understand that there’s an approach and opportunity that they may be missing," says Erickajoy Daniels, senior vice president of diversity and inclusion at Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee. "Healthcare is always going to be necessary, but it needs to attend to the individuals who are growing in our communities, so there’s got to be a shift. I don’t know that there was much of a press or urgency to do so before."
Some of that urgency is tied to the industry's move toward value-based reimbursement.
"The system is moving toward value-based reimbursement and population health management with hospitals being paid for value—outcomes at the appropriate cost without sacrificing quality. Value-based reimbursement requires the hospital to be responsible for patient outcomes regardless of where care happens," Battle says. "Now hospitals and healthcare systems have to pay more attention to what really improves outcomes for populations. It requires hospitals to understand populations from a cultural perspective, a lifestyle perspective, a socialization perspective, and to consider the influence of social determinants of health on populations."
This understanding can elevate an organization's status as a healthcare provider.
"There are things that we want in healthcare. We want to be the provider of choice. Are you the provider of choice across all communities? How are people choosing you? Is it because they feel like they’re fully accepted, they’re acknowledged, and they’re valued? Is it because you understand and address their needs?" Daniels says. "Think about growth and where you want to expand your services. Know who’s living in the communities you're serving and what they are looking for."
Equity is the goal
Understanding and reflecting the needs of customers and communities is key to achieving an organization's mission.
"Our customers and the communities we do business in are diverse," Hesselmann says. "We talk about our purpose a lot. It's to make financial lives better through the power of every connection. Well, if you’re really going to practice on the purpose, think about all the words, then ask, "What are we doing in communities throughout the U.S. business to support diversity and inclusion?”
Diversity and inclusion work should ultimately be about achieving equity of care delivery.
"Equity is creating opportunities for individuals based on their specific needs. It’s not the same as equality because I don’t need what you need; I need what I need. Equity is how a healthcare system delivers care to patients in a way that meets the needs of those individuals based upon their background, their psychosocial disposition, what their needs are, and the resources they have in their environment," Battle says. "To me, the end goal of diversity and inclusion has to be equity for the individuals in the workforce, for healthcare [delivery], patient outcomes and experience, and the various metrics that healthcare organizations are tied to around improving health."
View the complete HealthLeaders Media Roundtable report: The Role Diversity and Inclusion Play in Achieving Strategic Goals
Jennifer Thew, RN, is the senior nursing editor at HealthLeaders.