With 2023 well underway, health care payers and providers are growing more focused on ensuring equity in patient care. Unfortunately, systemic inequities are complex roadblocks for many who need care and critical services. The National Library of Medicine credits several structural factors, including economic, environmental, social, and fundamental disparities, that can negatively affect access to health care, living conditions, and overall health.

Besides the impact on health outcomes, inequities cause massive inefficiencies and are costly. A nine-year analysis by the Urban Institute found that racial disparities cost health insurance companies about $337 billion. As the health inequity problem has been well-documented in the literature for decades, and multiple root causes have been identified, we are at a critical point in health care where we must consider these issues as we develop new health care technologies.

Addressing inequities with technology

Access to health care is a core issue in health equity. Health care access involves a variety of factors, including insurance coverage, physical access to health care facilities, and managing costs of care for patients. With an eye toward technology to address some of these issues, solution developers should consider the impacts on health equity when building platforms and tools. For example, technology models that include telehealth can improve health care access. As programs are developed, recognizing that telehealth differs among population groups (the elderly and the socioeconomically disadvantaged, for example) enables the developers to account for specific populations and follow outcomes to determine if the proposed solutions are successful at closing gaps. This way, instead of a model where we look back to describe gaps, we can consider equity up front and integrate solutions from the beginning.