As the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, once stated “The only constant in life is change.” Every day we wake up and begin our work in our respective careers, hobbies, and passions and the world begins to change.
For the world of healthcare, our push towards a more inclusive and hopeful future comes alongside policy changes. As we change and improve, we need our policies to reflect that growth and change as well as to keep everyone at the same level. But policy changes aren’t perfect. Change can be a scary thing so sometimes you need to be able to advocate for the change to happen. Other times patients and sections of healthcare can be overlooked or forgotten, which can result in outdated or missing policies. So today we are going to take the time to dive into this topic of policy changes!
We reached out to our incredible Healthcare IT Today Community to ask — What role do policy changes play in advancing health equity and how can healthcare providers advocate for such changes effectively? What other policies need to be implemented? The following are their answers.
Note: These thoughts were collected before the new President took office.
Mary Sirois, Managing Director, Transformation & Innovation at Nordic Consulting
Policy changes are foundational to advancing health equity. They ensure funding and support for initiatives like telehealth, maternal health, rural healthcare, and patient identification systems. Policymakers must consider how SDoH influences outcomes and create policies that facilitate equitable care access, such as continued payment for telehealth services and sustainable rural healthcare funding.
Healthcare providers can advocate effectively by engaging with legislators to educate them about the real-world impacts of healthcare policy decisions. Providers should highlight the unique needs of populations, such as rural communities where healthcare delivery models must be adapted to local contexts. Advocacy efforts could include sharing patient stories, presenting evidence-based recommendations, and emphasizing how certain policy decisions—or the lack thereof—affect patient care and health outcomes.
Dana McCalley, VP of Value-Based Care at Navina
Policy changes play a pivotal role in advancing health equity by setting standards for SDoH data collection, reporting, and intervention. Federal policies that link SDoH initiatives to financial incentives encourage healthcare organizations to invest in these programs, offsetting costs and ensuring their sustainability. Policies also establish safeguards to prevent the misuse of SDoH data, helping build trust and ensure it is applied exclusively to improve outcomes.
Healthcare providers can advocate for these changes by engaging with policymakers, sharing success stories, and demonstrating the tangible benefits of SDoH-focused programs. Providers should also participate in coalitions or advisory boards that shape healthcare policy, ensuring that the voices of clinicians and patients are heard. Expanding policies to fund community-based resources and integrating them into value-based care frameworks will further strengthen the healthcare ecosystem’s ability to address SDoH comprehensively.
Lora Sparkman, MHA, BSN, RN, Partner, Clinical Solutions at Relias
Racism, poverty, stable housing, and social support are a few of the many factors that directly impact the level and quality of evidence-based maternal care pregnant people receive. While maternal care largely varies from community to community, federal and state funding programs, such as Title V of the Social Security Act, aim to ensure underserved regions are given ample resources to address and meet their population’s specific needs. To do so, Title V funds maternal mortality review committees that collect and analyze data on maternal deaths, informing targeted actions to reduce disparities and prevent future deaths.
This funding expands access to care, allowing for necessary home visits, care coordination, mental health screenings, and case management programs for high-risk individuals. While Title V’s efforts increase awareness by engaging community partners and stakeholders, this alone cannot fully address the national maternal health crisis. Healthcare providers look to policymakers and advocates to work together to further tackle these challenges on a larger scale by increasing funding, expanding Medicaid coverage and access, strengthening data collection and reporting, and empowering communities to take action to address social determinants of health.
Dominique Demolle, Co-Founder and CEO at Cognivia
The policy landscape has significantly evolved in recent years, both for pre- and post-marketing phases, with initiatives like the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid for example. However, healthcare providers must support this evolution and ensure the effective implementation of these policies to achieve greater equity. Health equity, beyond being an ethical imperative, should be viewed as a long-term investment. All stakeholders, from patients to payers, and the community will ultimately benefit from improved health management.
Krinx Kong, Chief Commercial Officer at Cognivia
Policy changes are crucial for advancing health equity. It is imperative to implement the following key policies: Standardizing Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Collection: Mandate standardized SDOH data collection in electronic health records (EHRs) to tackle underlying inequities directly. Creating Value-Based Care Models: Healthcare providers must be incentivized to prioritize equitable outcomes rather than merely focusing on overall performance. Medicaid Expansion and Reimbursement Parity: Expanding Medicaid and ensuring reimbursement parity are essential to provide marginalized groups access to comprehensive care. Healthcare providers must advocate for these changes to create a more equitable healthcare system.
Brian Jones, Chief Growth Officer at Avēsis
Policy can be a very powerful tool for advancing health equity. By removing politics from policymaking, it becomes possible to expand essential services, incentivize value-based care, and prioritize underserved populations, enabling people to focus on future opportunities rather than being constrained by current economic or social challenges. We need to focus on implementing changes rooted in shared experiences and real-world success stories supported by data-driven evidence. Policies that enhance accessibility, such as universal broadband expansion, increased funding for community health programs, and incentives for culturally competent care delivery, are critical next steps for driving systemic change.
Maria Perrin, President at Public Partnerships LLC
While we’ve seen progress in addressing health disparities among underserved groups, some groups remain overlooked and continue to silently suffer from inequities, including autistic and other neurodivergent individuals. As with disparities for other groups, disparities for autistic individuals stem from the healthcare system’s narrow framework that forces everyone to adapt to a singular approach, rather than accommodating differences in communications, sensitivities, and comorbidities. A growing percentage of our population is autistic, emphasizing the urgency to address these disparities.
Policy changes will play a major role in mandating proper funding and assistance for autistic individuals across healthcare and other sectors. Examples include more and better community support for educational and social programs, corporate initiatives that advance employment opportunities, and healthcare organizations ensuring they have the appropriate accommodations to care for this diverse group of individuals.
Hamad Husainy, DO, FACEP, Chief Medical Officer at PointClickCare
Interoperability and data sharing gained national attention through federal mandates and incentives, such as the 21st Century Cures Act, CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Rule, and the ONC Final Rule. Despite this momentum, we’ve yet to see widespread and meaningful action that demonstrates the full impact of these practices on care outcomes. Clinically, there is a great understanding of the benefits, such as improved communications for patient care as well as reduced costs, utilizations, and readmissions.
However, in 2025, interoperability will need to become a household name all the way down to the bedside. The regulatory landscape adds additional complexity, particularly with frameworks like TEFCA and California’s digital exchange framework. Looking ahead, tapping regional markets and local legislation will be key to achieving equitable care nationwide. While we are making progress to better understand the benefits of interoperability and are witnessing more widespread implementation, it will be another year of value creation to promote these results and build consensus around the true impact of interoperability. This is a long game, and we must get clear on our care collaboration goals to yield optimal value from seamless data exchange.
Ryan Bengtson, CEO at Panda Health
Policy change is critical to advancing health equity because it determines access and reimbursement. We’ve already seen the impact policy change can have when telehealth waivers were issued to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare organizations want to best serve their communities but are reluctant to do so if it is geographically restrictive and may only further erode margins. SDoH efforts have the same challenges.
So many great insights here! Huge thank you to Mary Sirois, Managing Director, Transformation & Innovation at Nordic Consulting, Dana McCalley, VP of Value-Based Care at Navina, Lora Sparkman, MHA, BSN, RN, Partner, Clinical Solutions at Relias, Dominique Demolle, Co-Founder and CEO at Cognivia, Krinx Kong, Chief Commercial Officer at Cognivia, Brian Jones, Chief Growth Officer at Avēsis, Maria Perrin, President at Public Partnerships LLC, Hamad Husainy, DO, FACEP, Chief Medical Officer at PointClickCare, and Ryan Bengtson, CEO at Panda Health for taking the time out of your day to submit a quote! And thank you to all of you for taking the time out of your day to read this article! We could not do this without all of your support.
What role do you think policy changes play in advancing health equity? How do you think healthcare providers can advocate for such changes effectively? What other policies do you think need to be implemented? Let us know over on social media, we’d love to hear from all of you!
