Dr. Koh on advancing health equity, culturally competent care

As the U.S. population grows more diverse, the need for equitable, culturally competent health care increases. Such care enables physicians to collect accurate medical information and tailor treatments to patients’ unique backgrounds and needs. In a recent episode of the American Medical Association’s AMA Update, Leong Koh, MD, president and CEO of Northwest Permanente, highlighted how Kaiser Permanente continues to advance its commitment to  delivering culturally competent health care.

“Our model was built on the premise of equitable care,” Dr. Koh said, referencing  Kaiser Permanente’s unique value-based care model, which focuses on the quality of care delivered versus the volume of services provided. The latter is standard in fee-for-service health care, where physicians are paid per treatment or procedure regardless of quality or outcomes. When physicians are accountable for what’s best for patients, it makes a difference —  care is patient-centered, equitable, and outcomes-oriented.  

Related advancing health equity, culturally competent care podcast: Putting equity, inclusion and diversity at the center of care delivery 

Kaiser Permanente of the Northwest — which includes Northwest Permanente, the medical group that serves Kaiser Permanente members, as well as Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals — is leveraging the principles of value-based care to advance health equity. Dr. Koh highlighted several of these initiatives on AMA Update: 

• A new Center for Black Health and Wellness, scheduled to open this fall in Portland, Oregon. The center was developed with input from member advisory councils, including Black community members who shared how, where, and from whom they wanted to receive care. “We have the goal of [improving] care not only for our patients, but we want to spread the best practices throughout the entire community as well,” Dr. Koh said. The new center will emphasize screening and prevention and be open to all Kaiser Permanente members.  

• Screening for social determinants of health, which include the social, economic, and behavioral factors that can influence health outcomes. These screenings have demonstrated phenomenal success. “We’ve screened over 5,000 patients since we launched this in 2020,” Dr. Koh said, “and one of the things that we’ve seen here is triple digit reduction in hospitals days per thousand members — 171 days at six months. What’s even more impressive is that we’ve been able to maintain a triple digit reduction in hospital days.” 

• Salud en Español, a program for culturally and linguistically inclusive care for Spanish-speaking patients, in which physicians, medical assistants, and nurses all speak English and Spanish. The Salud en Español team at the Sunset Medical Office in Hillsboro, Oregon, has implemented a program for patients with diabetes that includes group video visits with a Spanish-speaking behavioral health consultant, a health educator, or another bilingual staff member. To promote healthy eating, each patient is offered food boxes that contain a diabetic-friendly mix of grains, legumes, proteins, fruits, and vegetables. The food is provided through donations from local food banks and the Sunset Medical Office. “We’ve seen some fantastic outcomes in A1C control (an A1C test measures the average blood sugar levels of the past few months) and also nutritional status as well.”  

Note: To view the entire interview and read the transcript, visit the AMA website.