At both the local and federal level, health systems and agencies are looking to develop programs to promote health equity—and improved patient data collection may be a good place to start.

Healthcare organizations can look at their patient population and social determinants of health (SDOH) data to help identify and find solutions for health disparities, which cost the industry about $93 billion in excess medical expenses each year, per a 2018 report from the WK Kellogg Foundation.

“Once you have the data, the sky’s the limit,” Lyndia Hayden, senior director of data integrity and equity analytics at the New York-based Mount Sinai Health System, told Healthcare Brew. “There’s a lot that you can do toward equitable practices and policies once you have data integrity, and that’s what we’re focusing on.”

Keep reading here.—KW

Do you work in healthcare or have information about the industry that we should know? Email Kristine at [email protected]. For confidential conversations, ask Kristine for her number on Signal.

Getting a full picture of heart health involves a whole lot of factors. We’re talkin’ exercise, diet, and genetic cardiovascular risk factors—like lipoprotein(a), aka Lp(a).

About 20% of the world’s population has elevated Lp(a) levels, yet it is not routinely screened for. Fortunately, LetsGetChecked’s Cholesterol Test and Diabetes and Heart Test include screening for Lp(a).

Testing Lp(a) levels give vital insights into heart health, enabling early intervention and personalized strategies to reduce the risk of heart disease.

The best part? LetsGetChecked’s solutions make it easy to engage in screening without appointments and long wait times.

Try it for yourself to hone in on heart health.

California residents may soon be able to purchase breast pumps and related supplies tax-free under a proposal that advocates say, if passed, could inspire exemption in other states.

The legislation, which lawmakers are still reviewing, would end the sales tax California collects on breast pumps, breast pads, breast milk storage bags, and other relevant accessories—a practice that’s common for some other medical devices like wheelchairs and crutches.

Backers of the bill, like virtual breastfeeding support organization SimpliFed founder and CEO Andrea Ippolito, said it would make it easier for families to afford costly breastfeeding equipment, which may not always be fully covered by insurers despite federal coverage requirements set by the Affordable Care Act.

“Parents are forced to pay out of pocket,” she said. “This is, depending on what that sales tax looks like, a huge, huge cost for families.”

Keep reading here.—SY

Do you work in healthcare or have information about the industry that we should know? Email Shannon at [email protected]. For confidential conversations, ask Shannon for her number on Signal.

Before Maureen Calabrese joined Modern Health as its chief people officer in 2022, she was a human resources (HR) leader elsewhere advocating for the adoption of the mental health benefits platform for employees.

Now, Calabrese works with employees whose job it is to help HR leaders support their workers’ mental health.

While there was a growing understanding of the importance of mental health in the workplace prior to 2020, “everything that unfolded [that year] exacerbated [the need] extremely quickly,” said Calabrese. Despite a desire to help employees, Calabrese said HR needs to remember that they’re not licensed mental health professionals—that is where tools like Modern Health play a key role.

“To suddenly feel like people are looking to you with real need and in sometimes quite acute need, it can be a really challenging position to be in,” Calabrese said. “I think many of us are drawn to this field because of this deep connection to people and this very empathetic lens that we see our team through.”

Keep reading at HR Brew.—AS

Today’s top healthcare reads.

Stat: Only one in five adults with opioid use disorder in the US received treatment in 2021. (National Institutes of Health)

Quote: “We did incredible things during Covid around data dashboards, but when you look at the work it took underneath, it’s not sustainable. It’s highly manual and highly circumstantial. And a lot of it was highly funded by emergency federal dollars that are now disappearing.”—Ashwin Vasan, New York City health commissioner, on efforts to build data systems (MedPage Today)

Read: Allina Health, a large health system in the Midwest, has ended its policy of withholding medical care for patients with $4,500+ in medical debt. (the New York Times)

The whole picture: Get a holistic view of heart health with LetsGetChecked’s easy cholesterol and diabetes testing, now with lipoprotein(a) screening. Testing is essential for early detection and timely intervention. Try it for yourself.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}