The Joint Commission and Kaiser Permanente announce co-awardees of 2022 Bernard J. Tyson National Award for Excellence in Pursuit of Healthcare Equity
(OAKBROOK TERRACE, Illinois, November 8, 2022) – The Joint Commission and Kaiser Permanente today announce NYC Health + Hospitals, New York, and Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, Houston, as co-awardees of the 2022 Bernard J. Tyson National Award for Excellence in Pursuit of Healthcare Equity.
The award, named for late Kaiser Permanente Chairman and CEO and champion for healthcare equity Bernard J. Tyson, recognizes healthcare organizations and their partners that led initiatives that achieved a measurable, sustained reduction in one or more healthcare disparities.
NYC Health + Hospitals is recognized for its initiative Making Healthcare a Human Right: Expanding Access to Healthcare to Undocumented New Yorkers. In 2019, NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal healthcare system in the nation, launched NYC Care, a citywide healthcare access program for New Yorkers who are ineligible for or cannot afford health insurance, including undocumented individuals. The city estimates that there over 400,000 undocumented immigrants who are uninsured and are more likely to forego essential primary and preventive care.
NYC Care provides access to low or no-cost primary and specialty care, prescription medicines, member materials in multiple languages, a membership card, and a 24-hour customer service line. The program leverages a system-wide integrated electronic medical record system, e-referral system, and telehealth platforms to provide high-quality, coordinated care to NYC Care members.
This initiative:
- Enrolled more than 100,000 members, who made 264,976 primary care visits and 227,481 specialty visits by February 2022.
- Improved clinical outcomes: After six months of enrollment, 51% of enrollees with diabetes had improved hemoglobin A1C, and 68% of enrollees with hypertension had improved blood pressure.
Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women is recognized for its initiative Quality Improvement Initiatives on Decreasing Racial Disparities in Maternal Morbidity.
In March 2019, Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women began stratifying data by race and ethnicity and determined that non-Hispanic Black women had the highest rates of severe maternal morbidity from hemorrhage (SMM-H). A gap analysis identified interventions to reduce morbidity from hemorrhage for all pregnant patients, including hemorrhage risk assessment, drills, active management of the third stage of labor, and a multidisciplinary review of serious hemorrhages to identify systematic issues. A health equity lens was applied to these efforts and Black/African American race was added as a medium risk factor for hemorrhage to help address implicit bias and accelerate healthcare team response.
Prior to implementation of these strategies, there was a statistically significant difference between Black and White women for SMM-H rates (p<0.001). This disparity was no longer significant post-intervention (p=0.138), and the rate of SMM-H in Black women decreased significantly from 45.5% to 31.6% (p=0.011).
“The Joint Commission envisions a world where all people always experience safe, high-quality care, regardless of race, gender, class, or status,” said Ana Pujols McKee, MD, FACP, executive vice president, chief medical officer, and chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer. “We are inspired by NYC Health + Hospitals’ and Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women’s efforts that have resulted in more equitable care for their patients. We hope other healthcare organizations will move toward equity using these initiatives as examples of excellence."
“We applaud this year’s Tyson awardees, NYC Health + Hospitals and Texas Children's Pavilion for Women, for their important work to advance our shared goal to reduce – and eventually eliminate – inequities in care,” said Andrew B. Bindman, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer for Kaiser Permanente. “We hope that this award, named in Bernard Tyson’s honor, will continue his legacy and inspire others to undertake meaningful, measurable efforts to address inequities based on race, ethnicity, immigration status, and other social factors.”
The awardees will be recognized in a public, virtual ceremony on Tuesday, November 29 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. CT. Register to attend the ceremony.
To learn more about these initiatives and the award program, visit the Tyson Award webpage.
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About The Joint Commission
Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve healthcare for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating healthcare organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 22,000 healthcare organizations and programs in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in healthcare. Learn more about The Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org.
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Hannah Miller
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About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve almost 12.6 million members in 8 states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists, and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery, and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education, and the support of community health. For more information, go to about.kp.org.
Kaiser Permanente Media Contact
Elizabeth Schainbaum
(510) 406-1828