4 Companies Working to Improve Access and Health Equity

The U.S. healthcare industry has suffered from problems with access and equitable services. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted problems that have been recognized for a long time.

Healthcare should be about improving the health and wellness of every person, not just a chosen few. Unfortunately, as Walter Cronkite once said: “America’s healthcare system is neither healthy, caring nor a system.”

Nonetheless, bright spots in healthcare emerge from time to time, driven by companies large and small. Four innovative companies are thinking outside the box to improve access and create health equity.

according to the CDC, 1 in 5 people in the United States has one. That’s roughly 68 million diagnosed with chlamydia, gonorrhea, Hepatitis B, herpes, HIV, HPV, syphilis, or trichomoniasis.

Nurx removes the stigma by offering home STI testing kits, online diagnosis and consultations, and home delivery of treatment prescriptions. Patients can use their health insurance for services and prescriptions. Alternatively, patients can pay directly, at affordable prices, if they are uninsured or prefer not to go through their insurer.

Nurx is a game-changer for people embarrassed by STIs. They can talk to a doctor from the privacy of their home and have prescriptions delivered discreetly to their door. Confidentiality promises encourage the reluctant to get the diagnosis and treatment they need.

Those who are not self-conscious about STIs benefit from Nurx’s convenient access and affordability. Even if they choose to talk to their primary care physician about an STI, Nurx can deliver their prescription and offer free shipping.

It has been said ironically that an STI is a gift that keeps on giving. A better gift yet is to stop the chain of infection. Nurx offers innovative and equitable access to patients who want to discreetly treat common STIs like gonorrhea, chlamydia, and herpes. That’s a gift well worth paying forward.

No woman has to die while giving life.

Safer Childbirth Cities aims to lower maternal mortality by encouraging equal access to healthcare. Regardless of a woman’s race, where she lives, or whether she has health insurance, she should have access to competent healthcare.

While maternal mortality rates are dropping worldwide, they continue to climb in the U.S. Equity and access are two key reasons. Nearly 42% of deaths are among Black women and 28% among Native American and Alaska Native women.

Moreover, federal law requires states to provide Medicaid coverage to uninsured low-income women while they’re pregnant. Some states even offer coverage to uninsured women regardless of income. However, a significant number of healthcare providers don’t accept Medicaid assignments, effectively shutting the door on many women.

Furthermore, many deaths are attributable to complications arising from chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Women of color are at greater risk for these diseases and are less likely to have healthcare access to control them.

Safer Childbirth Cities currently encompass 20 cities in the U.S. By building networks of providers, social services, and holistic care, Merck is working toward providing equitable and life-saving access to moms.

Leidos

Think about an American company you might expect to be fighting the opioid crisis. Does a U.S. defense, aviation, biomedical research, and information technology company spring to mind?

Probably not, but that’s precisely what Leidos is doing. It’s leading efforts to encourage employers to bring addiction and mental health out of the darkness and into the light.

Worsened by the pandemic, opioid deaths exceeded 90,000 in 2020, up from 70,600 in 2019. However, it took only one death in 2016 to spur Leidos CEO Roger Krone to confront the issue and champion solutions.

Krone learned about the death of a long-time employee’s 30-year-old son, who had struggled with addiction for years. He was shocked by the number of other employees who had lost loved ones to opioids. Rather than taking a that’s-not-part-of-my-business attitude, Krone jumped all in.

The Leidos CEO Pledge Collaborative targets C-suite execs and senior leaders across all industries. It encourages the prioritization of addiction prevention and mental health services to remove the workplace stigmas associated with these diseases.

In association with the Milken Institute Center for Public Health, Leidos mobilizes employers of all shapes and sizes. Their efforts are encouraging more and more employers to provide addiction and mental health resources. Resources for millions of employees and their families will make a difference.

Julota

We’ve all seen the videos of someone suffering a physical or mental health crisis in public. Law enforcement arrives, and EMS whisks the person away to an emergency room if they are lucky. However, we have also seen law enforcement arrive, arrest the person in crisis, and take them to jail. In both situations, the question arises: What happens to them later?

Many communities have the resources they need to take care of themselves. They have law enforcement, EMS, healthcare, behavioral health, and social services. However, efforts are duplicated, unnecessary resources are used, and people fall through the cracks due to nonexistent communication.

Enter Julota, a software platform that connects the dots by automating collaboration among various organizations. Julota facilitates privacy-compliant communication between all these community resources.

Reports and information from each entity are shared with the other relevant entities. As a result, resources and patient care can be effectively managed from start to finish.

It truly does take a village to care for its most vulnerable. But those villagers need to exchange information to do the job. That’s what Julota is all about.

Breaking Down Boxes

The boxes are part and parcel of problems with equity and access in healthcare. This box holds white, middle-class people with employer-sponsored health insurance. One box holds Medicaid beneficiaries, another holds uninsured non-white people, and so on.

Most of the time, people open the boxes they know hold the best gifts. Healthcare providers are people, too; unsurprisingly, they want to get paid for their services. Yet this understandable desire too often means that those who need the most help don’t receive it.

Fortunately, some companies recognize the barriers to quality care for every individual. They’re breaking down those boxes that separate people with remarkable foresight and determination. If there will be a box, we should all be in the same one.