What is health equity?
Health equity is realized when every human on Earth can achieve their full health potential, regardless of socially determined barriers such as economic stability, living environment, education and access to care. At 98point6, we believe health equity is a human right, and quality primary care should be available to all individuals without requiring a financial trade-off.
Turning vision into action
Our technology-augmented platform allows us to extend the reach of our physicians, who are specially trained in health disparities, to more effectively bring care to everyone.
We believe that through the passion and dedication of our team, and the continued development of our service, we can be an instrumental force in dramatically improving healthcare access, addressing long-standing inadequacies and reducing delays in treatment and disease management for more equitable outcomes.
Patient-centered care
We’ve created a cross-functional team to define and prioritize service improvements that accelerate reach to underserved communities and address racial bias and social determinants of health. With the support of a medical director of population health and an associate medical director of health equity, we are actively:
- Collecting race and gender information in our onboarding process to enable more equitable and effective care delivery. You can learn more about this decision here.
- Engaging in partnerships that provide complimentary virtual care to vulnerable populations and those who don’t traditionally seek or have access to healthcare.
- Building a knowledge base of community resources across the nation so physicians can lead patients to local support services such as food banks and housing support.
- Expanding our product’s capabilities to take a holistic, patient-first approach to care, such as updating our standardized Care Plans to be at an average literacy level of sixth grade per American Medical Association recommendations.
Organizational commitments
By looking inward, we are examining our place in the greater healthcare community and making way for more meaningful contributions. At all levels of the company, we are actively:
- Building a more equitable clinic and workplace through the efforts of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Council.
- Cultivating a space for open discussions through employee resource groups and regular Lunch & Learns, hosted by internal and external speakers, where we discuss various aspects of health equity and social justice.
- Making donations to organizations selected by our employees, such as the Black Women’s Health Imperative, which is committed to advancing health equity and social justice.
Looking forward
We know this is only the beginning. The COVID-19 pandemic created enormous challenges for millions of families across economic and social divides; it also further revealed flaws in the healthcare system that have negatively impacted marginalized groups for hundreds of years.
Through the lens of compassion and commitment, we will continue to evolve our approach to equity and inclusion in the workplace and in how we provide care. We will update this page with progress as achievements are made and new goals set. Change is a process and our commitment to a healthier future will not cease.