At the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health 2023 Wellness Summit, Vikki Walton, MBA, addresses the role employers have in health equity.
Vikki Walton, MBA, health equity leader at Mercer, discussed how health equity can be improved by employers through their diversity equity and inclusion (DE&I) strategy in a presentation at the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health (GPBCH).
Transcript
Can you share an overview of your presentation: Advancing Health Equity as Part of an Employer’s DE&I Strategy?
My overview for the presentation is essentially talking with employers about the role that they can play in addressing and advancing health equity, specifically within their benefits. And so what we have found is that employers have recognized that they need to address health equity, they just don't quite understand how to do that.
Mercer, our health equity consulting group, goes in and works side by side with employers to look at their benefits, identify where there are gaps when it comes to inclusive benefits, and then find ways in which they can work with our partners or work with physicians, and then assess over time to improve the health of their employees, which we know employers make up about 50% if not more coverage for employees within the US. So it's very, very important that they play a role in this entire ecosystem of health equity.
What types of employers does your company work with to improve DE&I strategy?
We work across the board, so not just employers that are health-specific, but it could be a manufacturer, it could be a retail employer, and it could be a nonprofit organization that has employees. It is for employers that are providing health care, health insurance for their employees, and how can you support those benefits and ensure that they're inclusive? And if there are gaps, or we notice disparities, say for populations that have diabetes, mental health, or chronic conditions, if there are challenges, what can we do to ensure that there's equity?
Study Highlights Significant Increases in Utilization, Spending on DMD Drugs in Medicaid
May 17th 2024The findings add to recent research on the growing utilization, expenditure, and prices of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) therapies in the current landscape, an area health care policy could potentially address.
Read More
Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity: Urban Health Outreach
May 9th 2024In the series debut episode of "Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity," Mary Sligh, CRNP, and Chelsea Chappars, of Allegheny Health Network, explain how the Urban Health Outreach program aims to improve health equity for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Listen
Perioperative Nivolumab Boosts NSCLC Survival: CheckMate 77T Trial
May 16th 2024This interim analysis of the CheckMate 77T trial, outcomes were compared between adult patients receiving neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy or neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus placebo for resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Read More
ATS 2024: Bridging the Past, Present, and Future of Respiratory Care
May 16th 2024The application of artificial intelligence in medicine is anticipated as a highlight of ATS 2024, with sessions exploring its applications in research, radiological interpretation, and pediatric pulmonology.
Read More