CareSource Sponsors Pilot Project Aimed at Understanding Bias in Health Care

The partnership of The Ohio State University’s Office of the Chief Wellness Officer, College of Nursing and Office of Interprofessional Practice and Education has unveiled the new cohort of its Health Equity Scholars Program. Of the six projects selected, CareSource is sponsoring the pilot entitled “CONTEXT: Promoting an Intersectional View Using a Dashboard to Support Provider Engagement with Patient Social Determinants of Health and Perceived Biases.”

CareSource will provide support from its health equity and quality staff, exposure to health equity efforts at the state level and a chance for the team to present its findings to CareSource and Ohio Department of Medicaid leadership to further amplify and extend the reach of its work.

“CareSource is proud to support students Emmanuel Long, Leslie Ramos and faculty member Dr. Naleef Fareed, as they pursue a framework in understanding how biases affect social determinants of health,” said Steve Ringel, Ohio market president for CareSource. “We are looking forward to the long-term positive impact this project has on the community and how our partnership with Ohio State will build a knowledge base critical to ending racial disparities in health care.”

The program, which debuted in the 2021-22 academic year, is open to the entire university community with the stated purpose to “provide interprofessional undergraduate and graduate students with an opportunity to expand upon their knowledge and skills to improve health outcomes in diverse populations through a lens of equity and inclusion.”

“The important work of transforming health and improving lives – especially in communities that have faced inequities and hardship for far too long – has never been more critical,” said Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, APRN-CNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN, vice president for health promotion, university chief wellness officer and dean of the College of Nursing. “These passionate students and faculty so embody our purpose to dream, discover and deliver a healthier world everywhere, and we are so excited to support them in pursuit of these projects.”

The cohort formally begins its work in early September, shortly after the start of Autumn Semester classes. The scholar teams will engage in monthly educational sessions while they pursue implementation of their projects. The program culminates with the Health Equity Scholars presenting their work at The Ohio State University National Conference on Diversity, Race and Learning in the spring of 2023.