Dr. Patrick Courneya, Chief Health Plan Medical Officer for HealthPartners, and his team are making major changes throughout the organization in an effort to address health disparities in Minnesota. This includes building an antiracist culture at HealthPartners and increasing the diversity of health plan leadership by 100%. HealthPartners has also engaged in conversations with members, patients and the community to better understand what they can do to build trust. The Council recently caught up with Dr. Courneya to get his thoughts on the health equity journey at HealthPartners.

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QUESTION: How long have you been with your organization and what’s been your journey to your role?

ANSWER: I first joined HealthPartners in 1991 as a family practice clinician and later served as medical director and associate medical director for the health plan. In 2014, I joined Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., where I served as executive vice president and chief medical officer for national health plan and hospital quality. Following my six years at Kaiser, I returned to HealthPartners in January 2020 as chief health plan medical officer.

Q: Disparities in health care have always existed, but in your view, how have recent events – like the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd – impacted health equity work and where it is headed?

A: Across HealthPartners, we felt the upheaval of the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice in our community. While this work isn’t new for us, the events of the last year put a sharper focus on the racism, injustice and health care disparities experienced by communities of color. In a very real sense, we are digging even deeper into the systemic drivers of inequity and assuring that we are actively changing ourselves and advocating externally to eliminate those drivers. HealthPartners has redoubled our commitment to improving health equity and effecting meaningful change for our members and patients of color – and we’re encouraged to see many organizations in our community doing the same. This is an ongoing effort, but we’re set up for improved accountability with our new goals, initiatives and partnerships.

Q: What are some of the biggest barriers you see in delivering equitable care and what are steps that health plans can take to better connect with BIPOC communities?

A: We know many people in communities of color and other underserved health populations face additional barriers to access the care they need. Today, HealthPartners has multiple approaches to removing these barriers for our members and patients and promoting accessible care for all. Some efforts include language services, transportation services and a mix of options for appointments, including telehealth, drive-up sites and other accessible care sites. We are also examining our coverage and other policies with an equity lens, working to assure they do not unintentionally interfere with achieving health equity. In addition, we have several initiatives and partnerships to address social determinants of health in our community, including building homes with Habitat for Humanity, providing respite care with Catholic Charities and improving access to healthy food with local food shelves. We’re always looking for opportunities to improve this work and build trust among those we serve.

Q: What specific initiatives (committees, taskforces, work groups, cabinets, etc.) have been created at your organization to address health equity? And given these initiatives, what progress has been made in terms of making care more equitable?

A: HealthPartners is accelerating our equity work by aligning existing efforts across the organization and taking a more intentional approach to address health equity. As part of our renewed focus on this important work, last year we formed the HealthPartners Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Cabinet, made up of a diverse group of our organization’s leaders. Under the cabinet’s leadership, we’ve set ambitious, public goals to achieve by 2025, including:

  • Increase the racial diversity of our leadership team by 100%
  • Build an anti-racist culture and deepen our understanding of cultural humility
  • Eliminate disparities in maternal and infant care
  • Eliminate disparities in childhood immunizations
  • Eliminate disparities in chronic conditions and preventive screenings

Q: What role do you see partnerships (with the community, with the state, with others in the health care ecosystem, etc.) playing in advancing health equity efforts?

A: HealthPartners has always had a strong sense of health care partnership in our community. Health – for all people – is a team sport, and our communities are stronger when we can pull organizations together to build momentum, push for change and achieve common goals. As part of the HealthPartners 2025 Partners for Better Health Goals, one of our primary areas of focus relates to building partnerships in the community, because we know much of what contributes to an individual’s health and well-being happens outside of the health care system. In addition, we’re committed to building upon our current community partnerships with health equity at the forefront, including Make It OK, Little Moments Count and PowerUp.

Q: What role does organizational culture and diverse staffing play in health equity? How can health plans use cultural competencies to improve health outcomes?

A: Building a culture of inclusion in the workplace is critical for HealthPartners to provide quality care and health equity for every patient and member. We’re committed to being an organization where every person is welcome, included and valued – because when we embrace diversity, we’re better positioned to provide quality care to our members, patients and communities. Initiatives like our community health worker program prioritize connecting members and patients to those who share culture-specific knowledge, skills and values so more people feel represented, comfortable and empowered in their health care decision making.

Q: Distrust in the health care system continues to be a huge challenge when it comes to health equity, which has been laid bare by lower COVID vaccination rates in communities of color, but impacts other care, also. How do we rebuild trust in BIPOC communities?

A: The pandemic cast new light on the ongoing issue of health disparities in our community. COVID-19 disproportionately affected communities of color, and we recognize the issues of mistrust in our community and the health care system. Some of the work HealthPartners is currently doing to build trust among our members and patients involves learning about their unique experiences within the health care system. We’ve engaged in conversations with our members, patients and community to better understand what we can do to build trust, address bias and provide a more welcoming environment for people of all backgrounds. Through these important conversations, we’ve gained new perspectives on how to better care for and serve people and have implemented changes based on what we’ve learned. This is an area of focus for us, and we’ll continue to work closely with all those we serve in order to build trust and ultimately improve health outcomes.