NHQDR2

The speaker presents research on healthcare disparities in Maryland, specifically focusing on the African-American population. They highlight a measure related to routine healthcare appointments and explain why it matters beyond just the number of people using healthcare services. Maryland has a significant disparity compared to the national benchmark, indicating longer wait times for routine care. The speaker then discusses the five domains of social determinants of health: economic stability, education, health and healthcare, neighborhood and built environment, and social and community context. They provide data on each domain in relation to Medicare managed care beneficiaries in Maryland. The speaker emphasizes the importance of addressing economic stability and the healthcare system to mitigate the disparities and achieve health equity. They conclude by advocating for implementing interventions and monitoring their effectiveness to ensure fair access to timely and high-quality heal Good evening, everyone. My name is Nadia Fobbs, and today I bring to you some research that I have gathered based on some information retrieved from the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports website. This site, I will identify a disparity within Maryland that is afflicting the African-American population. And I chose to select a measure based on that website, and it's adults who had an appointment for routine healthcare in the last 6 or 12 months who sometimes or never got an appointment for routine care as soon as wanted, Medicare managed care. And you may ask, well, why does this matter? This measure goes beyond simply determining how many individuals use healthcare services. It conveys the inconvenience and potential health effects experienced by persons who are unable to obtain timely regular medical attention, even when they seek it. It highlights the crux of the disparity, not just variations in use of services, but also the difficulty to obtain necessary care when needed. This can have a major impact on chronic disease management, complication prevention, and overall health outcomes. And so, a closer look at Maryland, the national estimate for this measure, the benchmark measure, is 12%, whereas Maryland has only achieved a value of 7.8%. So, this is a distance of 55% to the benchmark, which indicates a significant disparity. Maryland Medicare managed care beneficiaries experience considerably longer wait times for routine care compared to national benchmarks. Now, I just want to touch base on social determinants of health, and there are five domains. First, we'll touch on economic stability. Now, according to the CMS data and adjusted for Medicare managed care population proportion, approximately 3.33% of beneficiaries in Maryland live below the poverty line. According to studies, there's a strong correlation between income and timely access to healthcare. Next domain, education. According to the American Community Survey data and adjusted for beneficiary distribution, approximately 12.7% of Medicare managed care beneficiaries in Maryland have less than a high school diploma. Research does indicate that there's a link between education, healthcare utilization, and outcomes. Third, social determinants of health, health and healthcare. According to the NHDQR data and adjusted for the Medicare managed care population proportion, approximately 6.05% of Medicare managed care beneficiaries in Maryland have diabetes, 5.40% have heart disease, 2.47% have COPD, 12.46% have hypertension, and 9.90% have arthritis. Fourth domain, neighborhood and built environment. According to the data from the Maryland Department of Transportation beneficiary distribution analysis, approximately 28.5% of Medicare managed care beneficiaries in Maryland live in areas with limited public transportation access. And the fifth domain, social and community context. According to data from the Maryland Department of Aging and Disabilities and an analysis of beneficiary distribution, estimated 18.3% of Medicare managed care beneficiaries in Maryland live in counties with high or very high social isolation. So, I just want to talk on the two domains, okay? We want to prioritize those social domains. According to the findings of economic stability and the healthcare system are the two social determinants of health domains with the greatest potential impact because economic stability affects a variety of factors, including affordability and transportation, the healthcare system's direct role in improving wait times, quality of care, and access to services. So, essentially, I want to wrap up with a few thoughts on this, okay? Access to disparities to routine care in a timely manner among beneficiaries of Maryland managed care in Maryland are present and are impacted by various social determinants of health factors. The proposed interventions to target economic stability and the healthcare system present the most auspicious strategy for mitigating the disparity and attaining health equity. And last but not least, invest in the implementation of the suggested interventions and maintain ongoing monitoring of their efficacy to guarantee fair access to timely and high quality healthcare for all beneficiaries and Medicare managed care in Maryland. Thank you.