The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation is bringing together healthcare leaders to create a health equity index to improve patient outcomes.
The index will measure and guide numerous efforts within the state, according to a news release shared with Becker's. Possible areas of analysis include social determinants of health, access to behavioral healthcare, healthcare affordability, and maternal care and women's health.
"North Carolina has a once-a-generation opportunity to eliminate significant health inequities that have existed for decades," John Lumpkin, MD, president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, said in the release. "Success will require having partnerships with policymakers, advocates, care providers, and others who want to identify and address the most pressing inequities that plague our healthcare system. To make meaningful changes, clear and actionable data measuring the current state of care is an essential starting point."
Contributors to the index include the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, North Carolina American Indian Health Board, North Carolina Community Health Center Association, North Carolina Health Care Association, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, North Carolina Medical Society, and the Old North State Medical Society.
The foundation plans to release the index by the end of 2023.