Digital Health Equity
Technology has become essential for obtaining health care, managing chronic conditions, and wellness. Yet many people from historically marginalized populations continue to lack access to the internet or the skills to engage with digital health tools. Designing and implementing health technology that meets the needs of these populations is a fundamental pathway to improve health equity.
As digital health continues to expand, hospitals and health care systems will need a digital health equity strategy to ensure that all their patients can access needed medical and social services.
Explore AHA’s growing repository of resources on digital health equity.
AHA Resources
Blog: Four Ways to Improve Digital Health Equity
This blog shares digital health strategies from CommonSpirit Health and Boston Medical Center to help expecting and new moms communicate with their care teams.
Podcast: Applying an Equity Lens to Digital Health
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital solutions, including mobile health apps, patient portals and telehealth serve as a critical access point for health care providers to reach patients. However, many individuals have not been able to benefit from these digital solutions. In this podcast, Julia Resnick, director of AHA’s Strategic Initiatives is joined by Priya Bathija, vice president of AHA’s Strategic Initiatives and Sarah Swank, Counsel at Nixon Peabody. Priya and Sarah will discuss their upcoming article on digital health equity in a special edition of the American Health Law Association Journal of Health and Life Sciences Law. Here, they discuss barriers to access digital solutions and the role of health care leaders, including attorneys, in improving digital health equity.
Interview: The Road to Health Equity Must Encompass a Strategy for Equitable Digital Health
Edmondo Robinson, MD, Chief Digital Officer, Moffitt Cancer Center discusses how his hospital is applying a health equity lens to their digital strategy.
Blog: Applying an Equity Lens to Digital Health
This blog discusses how a reliance on digital tools can exacerbate barriers to care among certain populations and may be less accessible to people with limited English proficiency. As these technologies become ubiquitous, now is the time to examine digital health from an equity lens to ensure that no community is left behind.
Blog: Digital Is the Next Frontier of Health Equity
This blog discusses why it will be imperative for hospitals to take proactive steps to design and implement digital solutions so that all individuals have the opportunity to engage with these tools.
Video: AHA Innovation Dialogue on Women's Health, Equity
In this video AHA Maternal and Child Health Council Chair Lara Khouri, executive vice president and chief strategy and transformation officer at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, talks with SteelSky Ventures Founding Partner Maria Velissaris about women’s health and innovation through a health equity lens.