Improving Health Disparities

Healthcare in the U.S. is unevenly distributed

The U.S. leads the world in many areas of healthcare innovation, but it also lags behind much of the industrialized world in improving care for some of its most vulnerable populations. Black, Latinx and Indigenous communities in the U.S. suffer tremendous healthcare disparities – a greater burden of illness, disability and mortality relative to other groups.

We have an opportunity to create a new future

Solving the problem of disparity in healthcare is one that will take engagement and action from across the healthcare industry. Everyone must work together to drive change, create equity and improve patient care.

Disparities in healthcare have existed for years

There are many contributing factors to healthcare disparities, from gaps in socioeconomic status to geography. These factors lead to unevenly distributed access to care and delivery of care that creates inequities throughout the healthcare continuum. The numbers can be staggering:

Birth

Black infants are twice as likely to die before their first birthday as white infants.

Motherhood

Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.

Healthy living

Adults in minority groups, including Black, Native American and Mexican, experience tooth decay at a rate twice that of white adults.

Chronic disease

Black, Hispanic and Native American populations are more than 50 percent more likely to suffer from diabetes than white populations in the U.S.

Treatable conditions

Black people are 2 times more likely to be impacted by Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) than white people and among those patients are 3 times more likely to suffer amputation as a result.

The pandemic

Black, Hispanic and Native American populations are nearly 5 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than white populations.

Featured partner story

Moms facing miles of difference in access to care

In the U.S., wealthy and poor mothers can share the same zip code, but not the same access to quality prenatal care. MedShare and Philips are collaborating to advance birth equity, bringing state-of-the-art health technologies to underserved communities.

Spotlighting our partners

NMQF

The National Minority Quality Forum was founded in 1998 to address the critical need for strengthening national and local efforts to use evidence-based, data-driven initiatives to guide programs to eliminate the disproportionate burden of premature death and preventable illness for racial and ethnic minorities and other special populations.

March of Dimes

The March of Dimes is a national, non-profit organization that was established in 1938. The mission of the foundation is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. The March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy so that every baby can have the best possible start.

MedShare

MedShare is a humanitarian aid organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of people, communities and our planet by sourcing and directly delivering surplus medical supplies and equipment to communities in need around the world. MedShare helps increase health system capacity and drives sustainability by providing biomedical equipment training and service to healthcare organizations and medical professionals serving populations in need.

Together, let’s commit to creating change that will bring health equity to underserved communities in the US and around the world."

Vitor Rocha

Chief Market Leader, Philips North America

Creating a healthier future for everyone

Healthcare disparities have existed for years, but we have an opportunity to create a new future where all populations have access, information and support across all aspects of the healthcare continuum – from healthy living and prevention to diagnosis, treatment and home care.

See how Philips is partnering with health systems to solve other complex healthcare issues

View our new Partnership and Innovation guide

US healthcare leaders are recognizing the role they have to play in addressing health disparities

Download the US Future Health Index 2021 Report

Philips UK launches its ‘Reducing Healthcare Inequality and Enhancing the NHS’ research paper with recommended actions that could improve the health of the nation and reduce inequalities

Download the UK Healthcare Inequities Research Report (28.14MB)

To learn more about our work addressing health disparities, please contact: healthequity@philips.com

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Improving health disparities together

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