The Best of an Integrated Benefit System Is Achieving Health Equity for All

A Mission Demanding Modern Logistics, Moreso A New Vision

Illumination publication initially publicized this article on medium!

Achieving "Health Equity" is one, if not the most, priority on the list of missions for health leaders. As I have outlined within the context of my other publications, health equity and achieving good health can only become practical by ensuring individual autonomy and engagement. That is if we can ensure every individual has the chance to attain their complete health prospect, not deprived of staying healthy and disparities.

By addressing the social determinants of health, every individual's socioeconomic standing is the most fundamental driver of that person's well-being.

Public health needs to make available social and economic resources for the public, particularly those with lower incomes and communities with poor access to quality care. The system must promote health literacy and public health status by educating them and offering access to resources effortlessly.

Public health, or the science and art of averting sickness, managing chronic diseases, extending life, and advancing health, is an organized undertaking. Such a mission is directly associated with another social discipline, human & social services.

Social and Human Services administration demands an interdisciplinary approach to promoting population health needs that merely focuses on deterrence and solving problems affecting the overall quality of life. That includes assisting people with mental health, health inequities, and higher rates of complications.

Integration of Public Health And Human Services

Health equity is the unifying element between public health and human services. That is mere because managing social and individual determinants of health is essential. However, they demand policies and actions to help healthcare leaders extend quality medical services and preventative care to all, which are the latter domains' core responsibilities.

Traditionally, public health and human services suffer from disconnect for various logistic reasons and a lack of proper public health infrastructure.

The challenges in applying for public assistance are due to suboptimal compliance, lack of awareness, poor policies, and poor general comprehension. Often, qualified public assistance applicants may need help deciding what paperwork to complete and how to submit the necessary forms promptly.

Many individuals must know that they qualify for specific social or human services programs that local, state, or federal governments offer.

That may compel someone to miss out on benefits like social security that could aid their socioeconomic needs and streamline their path toward health equity. Or it may place specific groups of people at a disadvantage based on the traits such as sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, life expectancy, and even poor health.

Also, Complex vocabulary in health systems and policy-heavy wording can make public resources like websites, applications, and notices problematic to comprehend for the layperson, more so for vulnerable populations.

Systems that sufficiently integrate public health, social services, and human services programs could increase access to quality medical care. Thus, it improves outcomes, reduces costs, and ultimately helps us achieve health equity goals.

One can achieve an integrated services delivery strategy by incorporating eligibility systems and a design of network logistics that improves access to public assistance across populations. That is by facilitating the end-to-end life cycle of the public assistance programs, including food, cash, child care, healthcare coverage, and transportation.

The contemporary solution that integrates public benefits and public health programs helps alleviate the stress and conflict experienced by applicants during their process of benefit eligibility determination. Thus, a streamlined application and approval procedure could prevent potential eligibility determination delays.

The new system should allow multiple offices to accept applicant data submitted through a single portal, with a robust account oversight infrastructure.

Streamlining The Entire Life Cycle For The Public Assistance Program Benefits Needs A Decentralized, Hybrid Work Model

Facilitating the life cycle of public assistance through the integration of public health and human services demands six significant elements:

1. Simplicity

2. Interactivity

3. Accessibility

4. Transparency

5. Convenience

6. Decentralized Information & Data privilege

The Healthcare system delivery today and achieving health equity is a complex task. However, unraveling complexity is the key to an integrated approach.

Simplifying the healthcare delivery model requires tackling the complexity at its root. That is technologies made for consumers with better user experience.

Interactivity is the essence of an intimate connection between the stakeholders and patients to ensure quality for every nation's health care. It immerses everyone in the scope of their activities. It gives them control over their experience, whether in-person or virtual. As a result, public assistance life cycle experiences become more explicit, narratives more effective, and questions more responsive.

The integrated system's logistic technology must ensure easy access to all the necessary public health and human services resources. Furthermore, access and operations must benefit from end-to-end transparency and accountability.

Within the ever-ambiguous healthcare system we currently retain, the five pillars of quality include knowledge, skill, transparency, supervision, and accountability. Establishing quality public service and health equity and eliminating health disparities thus demands a fully transparent system.

Every individual deserves convenient access to the essential amenities to satisfy social needs that facilitate their roadmap to health equity via an integrated system. In modern vocabulary, such convenience pertains not only to in-person relations but also to remote virtual interaction.

The advantages associated with decentralizing data ledgers are many. However, one more relevant to the theme of integrating public health and human services for health equity is eliminating redundancy workload while improving the coordination and concurrency of data.

One can expedite the public benefits eligibility and approval cycle time for those with needy socioeconomic status while reducing cost and workload.

The Logistics Integrated Benefit System Needs A Cyber-Physical Human System (CPHS) For Better Health Outcomes

The cyber-physical human system is the cyber-based network of digital sensors, individuals over which they can connect and disconnect at any time and from anywhere in the world.

The CPHS streamlines the interconnectedness and interactiveness between all the public health and human services resources. It facilitates joint operations between individuals and technology, from the alert system and notification to education and facilitation of the eligibility and approval process.

References

1. McKinsey & Company. "Insights into Better Integrated Eligibility Systems | McKinsey." Accessed October 5, 2022. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/insights-into-better-integrated-eligibility-systems.
2. TABRIZ, Dr. ADAM. "Complexity Is the Inherent Human Nature | by Dr. ADAM TABRIZ | ILLUMINATION | Medium." Medium, May 26, 2022. https://medium.com/illumination/complexity-is-the-inherent-human-nature-cb78e5eaa3bc.
3. McKinsey & Company. "How to Reduce Administrative Spending in US Healthcare | McKinsey." Accessed October 5, 2022. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/administrative-simplification-how-to-save-a-quarter-trillion-dollars-in-us-healthcare.
4. McKinsey & Company. "Insights into Better Integrated Eligibility Systems | McKinsey." Accessed October 5, 2022. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/insights-into-better-integrated-eligibility-systems.
5. McKinsey & Company. "As More Americans Ask for Public Aid, Could Integrated Benefits Help? | McKinsey." Accessed October 5, 2022. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/as-more-americans-ask-for-public-aid-could-integrated-benefits-help.
6. TABRIZ, Dr. ADAM. "Simplicity Is the Keystone to Successful Healthcare Technology | by Dr. ADAM TABRIZ | DataDrivenInvestor." Medium, October 5, 2021. https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/simplicity-is-the-keystone-to-successful-healthcare-technology-6195c7b5fd7d.
7. TABRIZ, Dr. ADAM. "The Five Pillars of Quality: Knowledge, Skill, Transparency, Supervision, and Accountability | by Dr. ADAM TABRIZ | ILLUMINATION-Curated | Medium." Medium, October 29, 2021. https://medium.com/illumination-curated/the-five-pillars-of-quality-knowledge-skill-transparency-supervision-and-accountability-2252e4733c8f.
8. TABRIZ, Dr. ADAM. "Decentralization in Healthcare Is beyond Data Security and Ownership | by Dr. ADAM TABRIZ | ILLUMINATION-Curated | Medium." Medium, December 6, 2021. https://medium.com/illumination-curated/decentralization-in-healthcare-is-beyond-data-security-and-ownership-ffd96e8eb.