Health care data analysis has shed light on significant disparities in health care across various locations. To address these inequalities, institutions, payers, and regulators have distinct options at their disposal, both socially and economically. Concurrently, individual health care providers can take their own initiatives while collaborative efforts are made to establish checks and balances to tackle these disparities. Exploring the potential avenues available to providers in resolving these issues is particularly intriguing.
One compelling approach for motivated specialists is to sub-specialize in medical and surgical fields focused on marginalized and underprivileged minorities. Accredited futuristic sub-specialties could be developed to address aspects like species identity, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and more, similar to existing sub-specialties in geriatrics, pediatrics, and obstetrics.
Academic researchers also play a crucial role by leveraging biomedical research to create disease guidelines tailored specifically to minority populations. These guidelines aim to ensure that marginalized groups’ unique needs and challenges are not overlooked in favor of majority-specific guidelines. This approach can lead to more equitable and effective health care management for all, without unnecessarily creating new liabilities, and potentially opening up avenues for economic revenues.
Innovative solutions can also come from cash-only practitioners who operate outside the constraints of regulation laws and institutional bylaws. These practitioners could designate a specific day each week, perhaps dubbed “Happy Tuesday,” to offer free health care services to their cash-paying patients. This philanthropic effort allows them to contribute to the well-being of the community without being restricted by payers’ limitations.
Furthermore, in an ideal scenario, full-time equivalent (1 FTE) health care professionals could choose to receive compensation as 0.8 FTE, even though they work 2,080 hours per year. This intentional decision would enable them to dedicate 416 work hours (equivalent to 0.2 FTE) annually as a philanthropic effort towards providing free health care. Such acts of giving back have the potential to alleviate existing health care disparities and contribute to a sustainable bottom line by supporting those in need.
Deepak Gupta is an anesthesiologist. Sarwan Kumar is an internal medicine physician.
