Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequities, and face worse health outcomes than those who are able to access certain resources. It is not equity to simply provide every individual with the same resources; that would be equality. In order to achieve health equity, resources must be allocated based on an individual need-based principle.
The doctor–patient relationship is a central part of health care and the practice of medicine. A doctor–patient relationship is formed when a doctor attends to a patient's medical needs and is usually through consent. This relationship is built on trust, respect, communication, and a common understanding of both the doctor and patients' sides. The trust aspect of this relationship goes is mutual: the doctor trusts the patient to reveal any information that may be relevant to the case, and in turn, the patient trusts the doctor to respect their privacy and not disclose this information to outside parties.
Peter J. Pronovost is Chief Quality and Transformation Officer at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, the main affiliate of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
The Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions (HCHDS), a research center within the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, strives to eradicate disparities in health and health care among racial and ethnic groups, socioeconomic groups, and geopolitical categories such as urban, rural, and suburban populations.
Healthcare in the United States is largely provided by private sector healthcare facilities, and paid for by a combination of public programs, private insurance, and out-of-pocket payments. The U.S. is the only developed country without a system of universal healthcare, and a significant proportion of its population lacks health insurance.
Marie Diener-West is the Helen Abbey and Margaret Merrell Professor of Biostatistics and the chair of the Master of Public Health Program at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Diener-West is an editor for the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group and a member of the American Public Health Association, American Statistical Association, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and the Society for Clinical Studies.
Cultural competence in healthcare refers to the ability for healthcare professionals to demonstrate cultural competence toward patients with diverse values, beliefs, and feelings. This process includes consideration of the individual social, cultural, and psychological needs of patients for effective cross-cultural communication with their health care providers. The goal of cultural competence in health care is to reduce health disparities and to provide optimal care to patients regardless of their race, gender, ethnic background, native languages spoken, and religious or cultural beliefs. Cultural competency training is important in health care fields where human interaction is common, including medicine, nursing, allied health, mental health, social work, pharmacy, oral health, and public health fields.
Joan Y. Reede is an American physician. She is Harvard Medical School's inaugural dean for diversity and community partnership in the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Partnership. She is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine. She is known for creating programs that mentor and support minority physicians and female physicians. Alumni of her programs have created a 501(c)(3) organization called The Reede Scholars in her honor.
Adil Haider is a Pakistani–American trauma surgeon, public health researcher and the Dean of medical college at the Aga Khan University. He is also the co-founder of Doctella, an online remote patient management application to enhance doctor-patient communication acquired by Masimo in 2018.
Neil R. Powe is an American professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and the chief of medicine at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. Previously he was professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research has mainly related to kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and health disparities.
Melissa Andrea Simon is an American clinical obstetrician/gynecologist and scientist whose research, teaching, clinical care and advocacy focus on health equity across the lifespan. Simon is founder and director of the Center for Health Equity Transformation (CHET) in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, and founder of the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative, a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer partnership led by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Northeastern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Simon holds the positions of the George H. Gardner, MD professor of clinical gynecology., the vice-chair of clinical research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, professor of preventive medicine and medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and is a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Uché Blackstock is an American emergency physician and former associate professor of emergency medicine at the New York University School of Medicine. She is the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, which has a primary mission to engage with healthcare and related organizations around bias and racism in healthcare with the goal of mobilizing for health equity and eradicating racialized health inequities. During the COVID-19 pandemic Blackstock used social media to share her experiences and concerns as a physician working on the front lines and on racial health disparities and inequities exposed by the pandemic. She is best known for her work amplifying the message on racial health inequities and her media appearances speaking on the COVID-19 pandemic. She has been featured on Meet the Press, PBS NewsHour, Slate and Forbes among others. Blackstock became a Yahoo! News Medical Contributor in June 2020.
Valerie Ellen Stone is an American physician who is a professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School. She serves as Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital. She specializes in the management of HIV/AIDS, health disparities and improving the quality of medical education.
Rachel Renee Hardeman is an American public health academic who is associate professor of Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She holds the inaugural Blue Cross Endowed Professorship in Health and Racial Equity. Her research considers how racism impacts health outcomes, particularly for the maternal health of African-Americans.
Kelly Anne Gebo is an American epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist. She was the inaugural Vice Provost for Education at Johns Hopkins University and served as the Chief Medical and Scientific Officer for the All of Us Research Program at the National Institutes of Health.
Kimberly Sherell Johnson is an American clinical investigator. She is a Full professor of medicine at Duke University and director of Duke REACH Equity. In March 2020, Johnson's academic work was recognized with the first Richard Payne Outstanding Achievement in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Kathryn McDonald is an American scientist who is Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins University. She serves as co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Diagnostic Excellence. McDonald previously led the Centre for Health Policy at Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Her research considers what makes for high-quality and safe healthcare delivery systems.
Sherita Hill Golden is an American physician who is the Hugh P. McCormick Family Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Johns Hopkins University. She is vice president and chief diversity officer. Her research considers biological and systems influences on diabetes and its outcomes. She was elected Fellow of National Academy of Medicine in 2021.
Deidra C. Crews MD, ScM is an American nephrologist and epidemiologist. She is the Deputy Director of Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity and a Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Crews research focuses on social drivers of disparities in kidney disease and hypertension.
Michelle van Ryn is an American health researcher who is the Grace Phelps Distinguished Professor at the Oregon Health & Science University. Her research considers the social determinants of health and equity in healthcare. She demonstrated that physicians' perceptions of patients was impacted by their socio-demographic status. She is the founder of Diversity Sciences, a consultancy company who provide evidence-based training for organizations looking to eliminate bias.
