Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Opinion & Editorial
The ACA after 10 years: Repair or replace?
March 14, 2020 01:00 AM

Experience with diversity provides tools to build an inclusive culture

Carladenise Edwards
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Carladenise Edwards

    Carladenise Edwards is executive vice president and chief strategy officer at Renton, Wash.-based Providence.

    Our country is at a pivotal point in the healthcare transformation journey.

    As leaders focused on shifting the industry from a “sick care” system to one that promotes health and wellness in communities across the country, we need to address issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.

    Today’s patients are more informed and engaged than ever. The rising cost of healthcare, the aging of America, and the global economy are creating new demands that are forcing systems to think differently about the type of care provided and the best way to deliver it.

    In addition, 10 years ago, the Affordable Care Act mandated that access to health insurance, as well as prevention and wellness programs, be equitable, and that coverage products not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or ability status.

    These truths make it critically important for today’s healthcare leaders to focus on creating a diverse workforce that will help us achieve our desired outcome of health equity. In my view, the systems that will prevail are the ones that truly understand the role that culture, history, institutional racism and discrimination play in the ability or inability of individuals from different backgrounds to truly engage with the healthcare system in meaningful ways.

    I believe that to break down biases and create the environments required to build better healthcare systems, we must acknowledge one of the root causes of bias: lack of knowledge or experience with diversity.

    The capacity to create an experiential and innovative culture increases significantly when the workforce includes highly engaged individuals from diverse backgrounds who serve as senior leaders and policymakers, as well as frontline caregivers responsible for delivering high-quality care in an equitable, affordable and seamless manner.

    Bias occurs when we do not have adequate experience with people from different backgrounds and we fail to acknowledge how individual behaviors can be shaped by what people endure both individually and as a community.

    When working in a healthcare system, the establishment of environments that have the capacity to deliver equitable care comes from an ability to understand these differences and the roles they play in our ability to give and receive care in a manner that is compassionate and culturally appropriate.

    Large systems like Providence that are leading the way in the nation’s healthcare transformation are well-positioned to demonstrate the value that investing in a leadership team with many different cultural and individual backgrounds can bring to delivering on our vision of Health for a Better World, and our promise of easing our patients’ way through the system.

    Seven of Providence’s 12-person leadership team are women. There has been a 50% increase in women leaders at Providence over a three-year period, and the system uses a top-to-bottom approach to identify and elevate women leaders in every region at every level.

    But this should not come as a surprise. We’re simply following our foremothers’ mission.

    Providence, one of the largest not-for-profit health systems in the country, founded in the Catholic tradition by women religious, has never shied away from new frontiers. As a woman of color on the leadership team, I recognize the responsibility I have to serve as an expression of God’s healing love by being steadfast in serving the poor and the vulnerable. That service comes in how we address the physical, social, and emotional needs of our patients.

    The capacity to carry out our mission and to transform the health of the nation is dependent on breaking down biases by taking concerted efforts to build healthcare environments where differences in culture become tools that fuel innovation and engagement, as opposed to threats to the status quo. It is a blessing to be able to work with a team that is committed to creating systems of care that eliminate bias, enables the achievement of health equity, and is truly committed to being an agent of change.

    MORE FROM THE ACA ISSUE

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    corona legal1_i.png
    Opponents of federal vaccine mandate seek rehearing
    022221-feature-iStock-526223747_WEB.jpg
    Surgeon General warns of escalating healthcare worker burnout
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing