Techquity’s Ground Zero
ViVE Conference Session Summary
This article is part of an extended series summarizing discussions at recent healthcare conferences about improving health equity through technology. This session summary contains details on the ViVE 2022 Conference. You can read our conference overview and find links to all articles here.
Learn more about StartingUpGood’s Health + Equity + Tech Project.
Techquity’s Ground Zero
Description
Ground Zero for techquity is understanding the relationship between healthcare and technology. In this must-attend session for anyone working with health populations, technology or data (isn’t that everybody in healthcare?), panelists will unveil new patient and industry findings and provide recommendations on collaborating on an equitable future for health in the digital era.
Speakers
- Alexis Anderson, MPH, Principal, Ipsos
- Reena Sooch, Global Head of Digital and Connected Health, Ipsos
- U. Michael Currie MPH, MBA, Sr. Vice President & Chief Health Equity Officer, UnitedHealth Group
- Carlos M. Nunez, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, ResMed
- J. Nwando Olayiwola, MD, MPH, FAAFP, Chief Health Equity Officer & Senior Vice President, Humana
Resources
- Ipsos and the HLTH Foundation’s white paper, “The Path to Techquity: An Introduction to Key Issues Impacting Equitable Design & Deployment of Tech in the US Healthcare System” defines Techquity as:
Techquity is the strategic design, development, and deployment of technology to advance health equity. It encompasses the notion that technology can either support or inhibit advancements in health equity if not implemented in an intentional and inclusive manner. It is also important to note that techquity is not an “individual” or consumer-level problem. Rather, promoting or advancing techquity will require collaboration, transparency, inclusivity, and a commitment to ensure organizational transformation at a systemic level.
- This patient video shows the real-life technological barriers to healthcare that many people face.
Key Points
Health Equity
Underlying truths:
- The concept of disparity is real, and we need to acknowledge it exists.
- We can do something about it.
- Other sectors have figured out how to make technology easy and engaging, but healthcare drops the ball.
- If the technology is not designed to connect, then it will fail.
Developing Technology
- Technology can provide new opportunities to improve patient outcomes, but it can also add to disparities.
- We need to design health products around equity. We already design products around safety and design products to make them easier to manufacture. Designing products around health equity means thinking about how to make products that are easy and engaging for the user.
- Commonly used predictive models in healthcare can disadvantage people of color if there are flaws in the algorithms. We need to examine algorithms to make sure they support health equity.
Accountability
- Use the CPR acronym for implementing techquity in your company.
C C-suite alignment and buy in is critical. The C-suite must prioritize health equity, and health equity must be measured within all departments.
PPersistence is needed because health disparities are not new or easily solved.
RResources must be dedicated to addressing health equity issues.
Importance of Building Trust
- Trust in data security will be especially important in healthcare. Big technology companies like Amazon and Google have been criticized for sharing and selling customer information. The healthcare sector can learn from their mistakes.
- Health equity has moved from a “nice to have” to necessary. As such, the HLTH Foundation is launching the Techquity industry survey, so the sector can better measure itself. Data from the survey will be shared at the next VIVE conference.
You can read a summary of all our 2022 healthcare conference coverage here, or check out specific coverage of each conference:
StartingUpGood supports fresh entrepreneurial approaches to doing good in the world. Check us out on Twitter: StartingUpGood
Explore | Experiment | Improve
