Healthfirst, New York's largest not-for-profit insurer, serves a diverse population of 1.7 million people. Errol Pierre, senior vice president of state programs at Healthfirst spoke in a McKinsey podcast March 10 to discuss how the payer serves the diverse group and tries to close the gap in health equity.
Mr. Pierre explained that he sees diversity as an opportunity to create new strategies to solve unique problems. It gives the team a chance to work with communities to come up with the best solutions. Healthfirst also tries to hire from the communities it serves, making sure that patients trust their staff and understand them on a linguistic and cultural level.
Throughout the pandemic, the payer leveraged its data on its users to find out who was being hit hardest by COVID-19, allowing them to send resources into those areas specifically and partner with the relevant community groups. They also try to establish a physical presence in communities for those that aren't digitally native to ensure they too receive healthcare support and education.
In a word of advice to others, Mr. Pierre said, " Make health equity part of your organization's DNA and not a separate department. Also, always check your biases, because no matter how hard you try, bias will seep into your decision making. Lastly, the more diversity you have in your leadership ranks the better your health plan or organization will perform."