Resources to support diverse patients and communities

We’ve heard it all our lives: To be fair, you should treat everybody the same. But the challenge is that everybody is not the same — and these differences can lead to critical disparities not only in how patients access healthcare, but their outcomes as well. The COVID-19 pandemic has reignited public attention about the serious public health risks, the consequences of disparities, and the critical need for health equity.

Health equity means everyone has the opportunity to reach their highest level of health, and barriers to doing so must be removed. Health disparities are health differences that are closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage.¹ Achieving health equity requires focus on the elimination of barriers and disparities associated with factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion, socioeconomic status, disability, and even where you live.² As a result it is imperative to offer access to care that is tailored to the unique needs of patients, and Anthem Blue Cross is committed to supporting our providers in this effort.

Cultural competency resources

Here is an overview of the cultural competency resources available on our provider website:

• Cultural competency and member engagement:
  • A training resource to increase cultural and disability competency to help effectively support the health and healthcare needs of your diverse patients
• Caring for Diverse Populations toolkit:
  • A comprehensive resource to help providers and office staff increase effective communication by enhancing knowledge of the values, beliefs, and needs of diverse patients
• MyDiversePatients:
  • Offers resources, information, and techniques to help provide access to the individualized care every patient deserves regardless of their diverse backgrounds
  • Includes free continuing medical education (CME) credit for learning experiences on topics related to cultural competency and disparities
  • Free accessibility from any device (desktop computer, laptop, phone, or tablet), with no account or login required

Stronger Together is the microsite that offers free resources to support the diverse health needs of all people where they live, learn, work, and play. These resources were created in collaboration with national organizations and are available for you to share with your patients and communities.

While there is no single, easy answer to address healthcare disparities, the vision of MyDiversePatients and Stronger Together is to start reversing these trends one person at a time.

Prevalent non-English languages (based on population data)

Like you, Anthem wants to effectively serve the needs of diverse patients. It’s important for us all to be aware of the cultural and linguistic needs of our communities, so we are sharing recent data about the top 15 non-English languages spoken by 5% or 1,000 individuals in California.

Source: American Community Survey, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B16001, generated July 2023.

Language support services

As a reminder, Anthem provides language assistance services for our members with limited English proficiency (LEP) or hearing, speech, or visual impairments. Please see the provider manual for details about the available resources and how to access them. In addition, the cultural competency resources shared above provide guidance on communicating and serving diverse populations effectively.

Embrace the knowledge, skills, ideals, strategies, and techniques to accelerate your journey to becoming your patients’ trusted healthcare partner by using these resources today.

References:

1. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2022, Feb 6). Healthy People - Disparities. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/foundation-health-measures/Disparities.
2. ThinkAnthem.com. (2022, Feb 7). Why We Need Health Equity. Retrieved from https://www.thinkanthem.com/health-equity/what-are-health-disparities/.