Grateful for Progress: Elevating the Importance of Health Equity in Massachusetts
With the holiday season in full swing, our Day Health Strategies team and I want to take a moment to celebrate the progress that Massachusetts is making in elevating the importance advancing health equity. Fundamental to this has been the formation of The Health Equity Compact which has brought over 80 leaders of color together to dismantle the systemic barriers to equitable health outcomes.
Thanks to their convening of impactful events like last June’s first-ever Health Equity Trends Summit, their message is rippling throughout the healthcare system. We are seeing more healthcare organizations embed health equity goals into their strategic plans. These organizations are also setting expectations to measure progress in reducing health disparities through their dashboards and reporting systems.
Key to all of this is that oversight agencies and enabling organizations are developing ways to better support, incentivize, and hold healthcare organizations accountable to making progress. We want to give a shout-out to several of these organizations:
The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC): Initiatives like 'Moving Massachusetts Upstream' target the root causes of health inequities with transparency and accountability. In addition, their annual Cost Trends Hearing now firmly embeds health equity as a core component.
The Massachusetts Quality Measure Alignment Task Force introduced a groundbreaking framework in 2023, integrating health equity into patient care outcomes.
MassHealth's Focused Strategy: This program covers over 2.4 million people, focusing on reducing health disparities, especially among Black and Latinx populations, by engaging communities, addressing social drivers of health, ensuring continuous enrollment, prioritizing perinatal health, and incentivizing providers and health plans.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has embedded health equity into their operations, introducing value-based payment contracts that reward improving health equity. Blue Cross also publishes data on racial and ethnic inequities, provides $25 million in grants to support physician practices and hospitals, and supports community organizations through partnerships and grants.
These driving forces will be transformative and impactful.
But it’s going to take all of us. Turning our vision of health equity into a reality will require the unwavering dedication of health care professionals, policymakers, and community leaders. We celebrate those who have already made that commitment. The Day Health Strategies team stands ready to support and extend their work.
In closing, I want to convey my deepest gratitude to our clients, partners, advisors, and our remarkable team for their passion and commitment to health equity. As we look toward the new year, let’s work together to shape a future where health equity isn't just an aspiration, but a reality for all.
Happy Holidays!
Rosemarie Day
CEO and Founder, Day Health Strategies