Care3 and Grapevine Health Hold Mini-Summit on Health Equity in Aspen

Each summer the Aspen Institute convenes its annual Resnick Aspen Action Forum. Attending the forum are Fellows of the Aspen Global Leadership Network who seek to bring values-based leadership to industries such as healthcare, finance, education, and more worldwide.

During this year’s Action Forum, Care3 CEO David S. Williams III and Grapevine Health Founder & CEO Lisa Fitzpatrick, MD met to discuss health equity and their personal and professional approaches to solving disparities in healthcare.

Lisa Fitzpatrick, MD - CEO & Founder, Grapevine Health

Dr. Fitzpatrick sees the foundational aspect of health literacy to be a fast-track to closing the gap in health for underserved groups. By delivering culturally-competent, medically accurate, health information from people who look like their consumers, trust is engendered in the patient-doctor relationship. That trust serves as the foundation of changing the course of health behaviors and interactions with the healthcare industry. She founded Grapevine Health to meet this challenge head on.

David S. Williams, MBA - CEO & Founder, Care3

Mr. Williams agrees and sees another path to changing bias in healthcare: personal data. The leading sources of information in treatment decision-making each have biases that perpetuate health disparities. People of color do not participate in clinical trials, thus biasing medical evidence. Clinical decision support systems base eligibility decisions for life-changing disease management programs based on healthcare spending rather than acuity of need or level of sickness. Since people of color have lower access to healthcare services, these systems have inherent bias. To combat these biases, Mr. Williams believes people of color and other underserved groups must use their own personal health information (PHI) as the leading data source for their care team. If care providers have robust PHI, they can quite literally personalize their treatment decisions for each patient based on that person’s experience, not biased data sources. Doctors are excellent when they have data, so providing a way for people to present their own health experiences to practitioners is another foundational way to reduce health disparities and improve health behaviors. Mr. Williams has built Care3 to address this need.

Both Dr. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Williams agree that it’s time the healthcare industry moves past “health equity” as a buzzword to drive headlines and PR spots to adopting real solutions that create lasting improvements to healthcare delivery for those who most need it. Now is the time for organizations to invest in solutions. Contact Care3 and Grapevine Health for more information.

About Grapevine Health

Grapevine Health is a data-driven health media company that delivers trusted health information to people where they are. We use technology and digital media to engage underserved communities in their health through relatable, culturally-appropriate multi-media content. Learn more at www.grapevinehealth.com.

About Care3

Care3 is the world’s first digital health equity platform helping health organizations and consumers manage the complexities of home and community-based care. Care3 combines. Care3 leverages consumer engagement in the home to generate clinical and social determinants of health data to improve care and health decisions for underserved groups. Learn more at www.care3.co.