Podcast explores how leaders can respond to costs of health disparities

In an American Hospital Association podcast, Michigan Health & Hospital Association CEO Brian Peters, MHA, encourages hospital leaders to leverage the new AHA guide on the economic impact of disparities in health outcomes to win support for addressing health disparities within their organizations and in their communities. The guide explains how health disparities contribute to avoidable healthcare spending and lost workforce productivity. Peters says hospitals should make their work addressing health disparities a standing agenda item at board meetings. They should track actionable data and hold supervisors and managers accountable for progress. Hospitals should be a convener and form partnerships with community and business organizations to address disparities. They should gather baseline data on challenges and measure progress, as well as share their success stories.