National Medical Group Commits to Reducing Healthcare Disparities

Envision Healthcare Publishes White Paper to Raise Awareness and Improve Outcomes

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--()--Today, Envision Healthcare, a leading national medical group, released a white paper on healthcare disparities. Envision cares for more than 32 million patients a year in all types of communities throughout the country. In working with healthcare partners across the U.S. to improve patients’ access to and the delivery of quality care, the medical group is uniquely positioned to help reduce healthcare disparities. The paper includes analysis of:

  • The effects of prejudice, stereotypes and racism in medicine
  • The systemic and multifaceted undertreatment of Black Americans for pain, cancer and acute cardiovascular and stroke conditions
  • Significantly worse outcomes for Black mothers and babies when compared to Whites
  • The racial dynamic of hospice utilization
  • The impact of COVID-19 on non-White populations and more

“As a leading medical group, caring for patients in all types of communities, we are committed to reducing the disparities that continue to put some patient populations at a disadvantage and harm the healthcare ecosystem,” said Jim Rechtin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Envision Healthcare. “Through our shared clinical expertise and collaboration, we will educate, coach and lead our teams in reducing disparities across the country.”

In the white paper, Envision outlines cornerstone research on healthcare disparities with an emphasis on the areas where Envision can have an impact by quantifying the ways in which the healthcare ecosystem perpetuates biases and delivers sub-optimal care to marginalized groups.

“Envision Healthcare’s national presence and expertise in communities throughout the country are what differentiate us from others,” said Meg Prado, MD, MBA, FAAP, President of Women’s and Children’s at Envision Healthcare. “Our education, research and screening tools will have far-reaching impacts on the communities and patients we care for every day.”

Envision has a key role to play in reducing healthcare disparities. In turn, Envision plans on spreading awareness and providing its teams more education about the importance of healthcare equity, obtaining patient demographic data to identify areas of opportunity and track improvement. The data can then be used to identify communities of need and dispatch resources while working closely with community leaders to improve access to care and inequality gaps.

Envision also provides specific internal commitments to address persistent healthcare inequities, including:

  1. Recognizing race, institutional racism and other forms of discrimination as social determinants of health
  2. Educating its clinicians and patients on the issues and remedies of healthcare inequities
  3. Educating its teams on how implicit biases and health inequities can be detrimental to patients' care
  4. Researching healthcare disparities and identifying solutions and best practices to address those disparities
  5. Developing screening tools to identify patients with social and structural determinants of health, e.g., access to safe drinking water, healthy food, stable housing, transportation, technology, health insurance and employment
  6. Advocating for local, state and federal policy changes that improve health equity

With these efforts, Envision aims to improve outcomes and reduce inefficiencies so that everyone will be able to access and receive the same high quality of care.

Read the full white paper here.

About Envision Healthcare Corporation

Envision Healthcare Corporation is a leading national medical group that delivers physician and advanced practice provider services, primarily in the areas of emergency and hospitalist medicine, anesthesiology, radiology/teleradiology, and neonatology to more than 1,800 clinical departments in healthcare facilities in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Post-acute care is delivered through an array of clinical professionals and integrated technologies which, when combined, contribute to efficient and effective population health management strategies. As a leader in ambulatory surgical care, the medical group owns and operates 255 surgery centers in 34 states and the District of Columbia, with medical specialties ranging from gastroenterology to ophthalmology and orthopedics. In total, the medical group offers a differentiated suite of clinical solutions on a national scale with a local understanding of our communities, creating value for health systems, payers, providers, and patients. For additional information, visit www.envisionhealth.com.

Release Summary

Today, Envision Healthcare, a leading national medical group, released a white paper on healthcare disparities.