Using Data to Advance Racial Equity in Healthcare
The COVID-19 pandemic along with the accelerating impacts of climate change have underscored the fact that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in America are at a higher risk of adverse health outcomes than their white counterparts. While public health experts have been concerned about racial disparities in health for decades, this new awareness, and new government actions, provide an opportunity to address the issue more effectively and find data-driven solutions. President Biden’s administration has made it a priority to use data to advance racial equity across a variety of domains, including health. His Executive Order 13985, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” created the Equitable Data Working Group and has led to individual Agency Equity Plans, including new efforts by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE) and the IBM Center for the Business of Government (IBM Center) have now partnered to explore how data related to health risk, healthcare access, and health outcomes can be leveraged to reduce these disparities and improve health equity in the United States. This paper builds on discussions at the Roundtable on Open Data For Racial Equity in Healthcare held by CODE and the IBM Center in April 2022 with support from population health management company ZeOmega. It describes ways that data can be applied to improve equity in healthcare and provides insights and recommendations for the Biden administration, the healthcare industry, community-based organizations (CBOs), and other leaders.
Catalyst Miami is acknowledged for the contributions of its staff member, Natalia Brown. Click here to read the full report.
