Somatus Signs Health Evolution Pledge in Ongoing Commitment to Accelerate Health Equity
October 24, 2023
McLean, VA — Somatus, the nation’s leading and largest value-based kidney care company, has joined more than 50 healthcare organizations in the Health Evolution Forum Health Equity Pledge to leverage data in a systematic solution to address health disparities.
Since forming Somatus in 2016, the Company has been committed to driving greater access and improving equity in underserved communities. In 2020, Somatus was awarded access to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health Virtual Research Data Center, providing access to many years of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiary data. Somatus is using this data to examine how factors such as race, ethnicity, location, and access to specialty care can impact outcomes for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD).
“Our health equity strategy is built on the three pillars: facilitate robust data collection and analysis to drive measurable improvements; create innovative care programs to reduce disparities amongst our patients; and promote and maintain a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace,” said Dr. Joe Kimura, Chief Medical Officer of Somatus. “We are excited to leverage and share data that can drive meaningful change for patients across the healthcare spectrum.”
According to Richard Schwartz, CEO, Health Evolution, “In order to create a more equitable healthcare experience for all, we must be committed to collecting, reviewing, sharing, and acting on outcomes measures that create meaningful change. We are excited to have Somatus, an organization committed to driving social justice in the healthcare space, as part of our Health Equity Pledge.”
By participating in the Health Evolution Forum Health Equity Pledge, Somatus agrees to:
- Collect race, ethnicity, language, and sex data for at least 50% of the organization’s patient, member, or customer population.
- Stratify and regularly review these collected data by the top-priority quality or access metric for 90% of major business lines and/or departments/divisions of adequate size.
- Share data and insights on health equity efforts, including for select measures, and participate in the Health Equity Pledge Learning Series to exchange ideas and solutions.
“We know that healthcare organizations need to more robustly collect and analyze health equity data to fully understand the scope and breadth of inequalities. We can use these insights to accelerate improvements in health equity and demonstrate how our efforts are making a difference for the patients and communities we serve. Health equity is a high priority for Somatus, and we are proud to be one of more than 50 healthcare entities that have signed the Health Equity Pledge,” Dr. Kimura stated.
About Health Evolution
Health Evolution empowers positive change in healthcare. We convene a curated community of influential chief executives and senior leaders from all sectors of the health care industry. We inspire leaders to embrace new ideas and lead bold change. We foster collaboration that makes our healthcare system more accessible and affordable, more effective and equitable and more proactive and personalized.