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Incentives help bridge major differences

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At Nashville General Hospital, dismantling socioeconomic barriers to healthcare – such as cost and access – remains a core mission.

Joseph Webb
| Guest columnist

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  • Dr. Joseph Webb is CEO of Nashville General Hospital

Healthcare equity, defined as achieving the highest level of health for all people, emphasizes valuing everyone equally and undertaking societal efforts to reduce avoidable inequalities and eliminate health and healthcare disparities to work.

This principle is especially relevant in Nashville, where the 2018 Nashville Health Equity Report revealed troubling disparities: Davidson County’s infant mortality rate was 7.1 per 1,000 live births, significantly higher for non-Hispanic Black infants at 12.6, compared with 4.2 for non-Hispanic white children. infants.

Similarly, cardiovascular disease mortality rates revealed racial disparities, with reports showing that nearly half of African American adults in Nashville were diagnosed with high blood pressure, compared to just 27% of the white population.

This, coupled with the fact that African American adults are twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than the general population, begs the question of what more can be done to narrow the racial gap when it comes to health , and how to improve the lives of future Tennesseans.

Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these disparities, spotlighting the profound impact of social determinants on the health outcomes of Nashville’s young, diverse population. Or, in other words: the fate of colored people was much harder than that of the white population. Racial and ethnic disparities in cases, hospitalizations, and mortality rates reflect national trends, further underscoring the critical need for targeted health equity efforts in the face of public health crises.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Black Americans are at greater risk for “COVID-19, heart disease, stroke, cancer, asthma, flu and pneumonia, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and homicide” than white Americans. Americans. Life expectancy from birth for black men is 66.7 years versus 73.7 years for white men and 74.8 years for black women versus 79.2 years for white women.

This is the current state of health care in Tennessee

In 2023, Tennessee found itself at the bottom of the national health rankings, ranking 44th overall. The state also ranks 15th in health care deserts, with 23 of 95 counties lacking adequate health care. These health care deserts affect more than a third of Tennessee’s population, affecting approximately 2.5 million residents.

2022 data from the CDC shows that obesity affects nearly 40% of Tennessee’s population – ranking it fifth in the United States. As a result, Tennessee’s diabetes crisis is widespread, with nearly 14% of adults—representing 730,416 individuals—being diagnosed with the disease. Another 158,000 Tennesseans are unknowingly living with diabetes, and another 1.8 million are in the prediabetic stage, facing increased risks without immediate intervention.

The disparity in maternal health outcomes is also just as stark: non-Hispanic black women are 2.3 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, with mortality rates of 78.2 per 100,000 live births compared to 32.9 for white women from 2017 to 2021. Further disparities are seen in infant mortality, with non-Hispanic black infants in the US having a mortality rate 2.4 times higher than non-Hispanic white infants. Specifically, in 2020, these children are almost four times more likely to die from low birth weight and other complications, and 2.9 times more likely to suffer from cot death.

The incentive program ensures patients receive care and saves them money

Socioeconomic status has long determined health outcomes across the country, destroying mortality trajectories and creating a national crisis with more than 80% of U.S. counties classified as health care deserts lacking essential health care services. At Nashville General Hospital, addressing socioeconomic barriers to health care – such as cost and access – remains a core mission. Launched 15 years ago, the Nashville General Hospital Metro Healthcare Incentive Program was specifically designed to provide Metro employees, their dependents and retirees not covered by Medicare with convenient, low-cost access to high-quality care.

The program effectively eliminates copays and deductibles for Metro’s Cigna PPO enrollees when they seek treatment at Nashville’s general facilities, including the soon-to-open Nashville Healthcare Diagnostic Imaging Center. The initiative extends to participants in Metro’s Cigna non-PPO and the Nashville Electric Service medical plan, providing significant financial relief with potential savings of up to $2,000 per year.

Regular interactions with primary care providers, facilitated by programs like Nashville General’s, are linked to better health outcomes, including reduced mortality and lower healthcare costs, making such initiatives not only useful but essential.

Access to healthcare is essential for a longer, healthier life

In 2023, Nashville General Hospital’s Metro Healthcare Incentive Program became a beacon of hope and health for more than 1,600 Metro employees, family members and retirees, facilitating nearly 6,000 visits to hospital facilities and generating savings estimated at more than $600,000 amounts for the year.

Since its inception in 2009, the program has provided more than just financial assistance, generating an estimated $3.9 million in savings on copays and deductibles.

More importantly, it has opened the doors to accessible, high-quality healthcare, promoting a better, healthier future for Nashville’s working families and their younger generations, proving that proactive healthcare measures can indeed pave the way to longer, healthier lives for all ages.

The Nashville Healthcare Center opened in 2016 as a primary care practice with two family medicine providers.

In 2019, Nashville General Hospital opened its first offsite location in Midtown and transitioned all primary and specialty practices under the Nashville Healthcare Center brand.

Today, Nashville Healthcare Center serves all Nashvillians and their families. It offers primary care and more than 23 medical specialties.

Our board-certified healthcare providers are committed to providing patient-centered care with a strong focus on prevention and wellness. Other locations include Nashville Healthcare Center, Bordeaux and Nashville Healthcare Center and MetroCenter.

Dr. Joseph Webb is CEO of Nashville General Hospital

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