The Need for Need-Based Care
White Paper Explores the Relationship between Poverty and the Need for Equitable Access to Healthcare
[COLUMBIA, MD] – AbsoluteCare, a healthcare organization that provides equitable access to healthcare for its members, shares critical reasoning for need-based care in its white paper, “The Need for Need-Based Care,” by Anoop Raman, MD, MBA, the company’s Chief Medical Officer, Complex Care.
This white paper explores the connection between poverty and the need for equitable access to healthcare. Lower-income Americans, research shows, are more prone to diseases like diabetes, stroke, depression, and heart disease. They’re more likely to have severe complications from COVID. Infant mortality is higher, and life expectancy is lower.
How do we give Americans equitable healthcare? “I think the answer lies in advancing quality member care based on need rather than an ability to pay, which is exactly what we do here at AbsoluteCare,” said Dr. Raman, the paper’s author. “Private practice physicians have focused on seeing as many patients as possible. Equitable healthcare has changed all that, focusing on patient outcomes rather than volume.”
It’s quality over quantity, in other words, and that one change is a major step toward health equity and advancing quality member care.
Another concern is addressing physical, behavioral, and social issues simultaneously. Members who can’t afford time off for medical care are less likely to attend follow-up appointments and preventive screening visits. They’re also less likely to visit the physician without transportation.
“Housing, transportation, and food are a huge part of healthcare. These are things many of us take for granted,” said Mike Radu, AbsoluteCare CEO. “Without a place to store medications, healing foods, and rides to appointments, it’s unlikely that a person with a chronic condition has an equal opportunity to get well. That’s why we address social drivers of health in our comprehensive care centers and in the communities we serve.”