Two prominent healthcare leaders are advocating for a comprehensive patient-centered approach to address health equity challenges and reduce disparities in healthcare outcomes. Dr. Eboni Price-Haywood, Associate Dean at Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine, and Dr. Toni Flowers, Chief Diversity and Social Responsibility Officer at LCMC Health, shared insights on how healthcare systems can better serve diverse communities.
Understanding the Patient's Full Context
Dr. Price-Haywood emphasized that patient-centered care requires healthcare providers to understand the complete picture of a patient's circumstances. "When we say patient-centered, it's about basing everything you do through understanding the person that's in front of you," she explained. "That means that I have to understand your personal circumstances, your living circumstances, financial circumstances, any issues that might impact your ability to take care of yourself and to be well."
This approach recognizes that social determinants of health play a crucial role in patient outcomes. As Dr. Price-Haywood noted, "If a person's needs, or social needs in particular, are not taken care of, your medical issues are not a priority, and that's just a practical thing."
Distinguishing Between Health and Healthcare Disparities
Dr. Flowers highlighted an important distinction that often gets overlooked in discussions about health equity. "We recognize certainly that we have the data that tells us about the difference between health disparities and health care disparities," she said. She clarified that health disparities refer to the incidence of disease within populations and require behavior change, while healthcare disparities involve differences in the quality of care provided by healthcare providers.
"We want to address both," Dr. Flowers emphasized, noting that a truly patient-centered approach must consider "the emotional, the psychological, the physical, the environmental, all those aspects of who that patient is in the care that we provide to them. If we leave any of those aspects out, we're not taking care of the whole patient."
Workforce Diversity and Community-Centered Design
Both experts stressed the importance of investing in a diverse healthcare workforce. Dr. Price-Haywood pointed out that this extends beyond just physicians and nurses to include all members of the care team who are "equally important, if not more important, to the long-term care to patients."
Additionally, healthcare services must be intentionally designed around the specific needs of the communities they serve. "You have to understand the community that you're a part of, and you also have to understand who's walking through the door," Dr. Price-Haywood explained. "You have to be in tune with them to design the services to meet their needs; otherwise, you're present, but not present if you're not meeting the needs of the community where you're located."
Long-Term Transformation Requires Collaboration
Dr. Flowers acknowledged that meaningful transformation in healthcare doesn't happen overnight. "These conditions that we're dealing with developed over time, and so it's going to take time," she said. She encouraged healthcare professionals to recognize that their individual contributions matter, likening them to drops that collectively fill a bucket.
The path forward, according to Dr. Flowers, involves collaborative teams that include the patient as a central member. "We're all bringing our different perspectives in and thereby have a comprehensive way that we're approaching our patients' health issues to be able to meet the needs that [they] deem as important to them."
By centering care around patients' full lived experiences and addressing both health and healthcare disparities, healthcare systems can work toward greater equity and improved outcomes for all communities.
