Bridging the Gap in Healthcare Equity
Specialist insights into millions of healthcare cases reveal significant opportunities to improve equity in treatment access and outcomes.
Healthcare equity has become a critical focus in modern medicine. A panel discussion at Asembia's 2021 Specialty Pharmacy Summit examined how to transform commitments about addressing care gaps into actionable solutions. Topics ranged from health education to pharmacy access and income disparities.
The expert panel featured Mike Valenta (Merck), Dr. John Wigneswaran (Walmart), and Dr. Lilian Ndehi (Humana), moderated by George Van Antwerp of Deloitte.
Van Antwerp highlighted systemic challenges, citing a patient who required three separate medication deliveries in one day. "Such complications make medication compliance and health improvement extremely difficult," he noted.
Panelists explored pharmacy-led solutions to care gaps. Wigneswaran detailed Walmart's diabetes initiative with Cleveland Clinic and the American Diabetes Association, providing continuous glucose monitors to at-risk populations.
"Medicare data shows minority patients are significantly less likely to be offered CGM devices," Wigneswaran emphasized, pointing to income-based disparities in care.
The specialists agreed that understanding individual patient conditions leads to better outcomes through personalized care approaches.
Ndehi stressed the importance of medication adherence data: "Capturing this information helps payers identify and support at-risk patients, but requires long-term follow-up."
Wigneswaran also shared Walmart's HIV initiative in Georgia, including specialized pharmacist training for LGBTQ+ patient interactions.
Targeted patient screening and treatment matching reduces waste while improving adherence, the panel concluded, though systemic navigation challenges remain for many patients.
