Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE IMPLEMENTATION IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Digital Health
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Unwell in America
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • 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
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Digital Health
    • - Future of Staffing
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • Data Center
    • Data Center Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Opinion
September 21, 2021 05:00 AM

Just like we’re fighting COVID-19, we must inoculate ourselves against bias

Jeffrey Flaks
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Jeffrey Flaks

    Jeffrey Flaks, president and CEO, Hartford HealthCare.

    “Breaking Bias” is a provocative name for this regular column. Like much of our work in healthcare—especially efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic—dismantling bias is both an everyday challenge and a long-term aspiration. For the last 19 months, the dual diseases of coronavirus and systemic racism have been intertwined. We have seen unassailable evidence of healthcare disparities, confronted our industry’s failure to reach many of its most vulnerable communities, and acknowledged that our boasts of “access” have for decades left many people unsupported.

    At Hartford HealthCare, we have begun to tackle bias in much the same way we confront COVID: Recognize the condition, communicate effectively, and develop interventions that can inoculate (as best we can) our colleagues and communities. Yes, we aim to build antibodies to break bias.

    Recognition: We have known for years that disparities in care—along predominantly racial and socioeconomic lines—are real. But the pandemic forced us to measure our effectiveness: not only those we are serving, but what communities we are leaving behind. Our teams developed equity dashboards using data visualization to show, daily, how we were caring for underserved populations. The early results were disappointing, but not surprising. The data did, however, help us adjust our approach and measure progress.

    Hartford HealthCare expanded outreach via vans for testing and vaccines; we solidified or established new relationships with community organizations; and we expanded this concept of access beyond COVID-19 to other forms of care—emotional and physical—by staffing and equipping a new Neighborhood Care initiative. We have more to do, but I am confident our eyes have been opened as never before.

    Communication: Too often, healthcare organizations couch discussions of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in jargon-filled language. I decided that we needed straight talk. In June 2020, I called for a systemwide “Time-Out for Racial Equity.” There, I unveiled a 10-point plan for Hartford HealthCare—concrete, visible and measurable objectives to advance a culture of inclusion and belonging. We shared the goals on our intranet, messages in our all-colleague newsletters and in videos and podcasts. 

    A year later, we added a fifth value, equity, to our long-standing core values of caring, excellence, integrity and safety. And we embedded health and racial equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging in our system’s balanced scorecard to ensure broad awareness, adoption and accountability.

    Intervention: Racism, bias (implicit and otherwise) and inequity are stubborn things. Breaking them down requires intervention. So we created Colleague Resource Groups to support the advancement of staff members from underrepresented backgrounds. We expanded our Health Equity Department to better identify and address racial and ethnic health disparities. We enhanced recruitment and career development programs for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds. We established a system-wide Supplier Diversity Council. We launched bias awareness and education for all colleagues.

    Significantly, we began to work with Duane Elliott Reynolds, CEO and founder of Just Health Collective. Mr. Reynolds and the JHC team bring a wealth of knowledge about healthcare operations, expertise in change management and a passion to transform healthcare. The team has conducted an enterprise health equity and belonging assessment and developed a three-year road map. Hartford HealthCare intends to lead the field in this space and the work of JHC has catapulted our journey. 

    Can we break bias? Yes, but it will take hard work—just like beating back a pandemic. We’re used to hard work, and we are ready.

    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
    payment_WEB.jpg
    CMS proposes hospice payment bump
    payments-up_i.png
    CMS 2024 Medicare Advantage rate notice tweaks risk adjustment program
    Most Popular
    1
    More healthcare organizations at risk of credit default, Moody's says
    2
    Centene fills out senior executive team with new president, COO
    3
    SCAN, CareOregon plan to merge into the HealthRight Group
    4
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan unveils big push that lets physicians take on risk, reap rewards
    5
    Bright Health weighs reverse stock split as delisting looms
    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 © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Digital Health
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Unwell in America
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • 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
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Data Center
      • Data Center Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing