Health Equity

The US Center for Disease and Prevention adapted the World Health Organization definition of health equity to “when every person has the opportunity to ‘attain [their] full health potential’ and no one is ‘disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances.’” Another simpler version of a health equity definition frequently used is “when everyone has the opportunity to be as healthy as possible”.

Understanding Health Equity

Historically, efforts to improve health outcomes for disadvantaged groups have focused on equality or equal care, while more recent approaches target equity as a more favorable method of improving disparities. While equality attempts to equalize health care standards and calls for a flat standardization of care for all (equal access for all), health equity understands that different individuals and groups may be predisposed to various levels of inequality. As a result, these groups require varying levels of care that may differ from other groups to attain similar results. The assumption that everyone will benefit from the same support levels, in many cases, is unrealistic.

Billings residents ranked the five most important health priorities, based upon scope, severity, and the ability of our community to improve upon these issues, as:

1. Mental Health
2. Substance Abuse
3. Access to Healthcare
4. Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Weight
5. Heart Disease and Stroke

Why Does Health Equity Matter?

Disparities driven by differences in health equity may result in a lower quality of life for affected groups. Research on Health Disparities has shown that nationally, a 40-year-old American man in the poorest 1% of the income distribution will die an average of 14.6 years sooner than a man in the wealthiest 1%. The gap for American women is 10.1 years. Other socioeconomic factors can also alter health outcomes, such as race, education, occupation, sexual orientation, and place of residence.

Potential Barriers to Health Equity

Social Drivers of Health (SDOH) are factors in someone’s life that impact their health, quality of life, well-being, and risks of developing certain health-related conditions. These factors are often environmental factors someone is born into, but also include aspects of their daily living. The five domains of social drivers of health are:

• Health Care Access and Quality
• Neighborhood and Built Environment
• Social and Community Context
• Economic Stability
• Education Access and Quality

Social Drivers of Health are important considerations when looking at health equity. For example, if someone does not have access to healthy food, as they do not have transportation to a grocery store or they cannot afford to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, they are less likely to have good nutrition, which then in turn increases their risk of developing certain health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, or obesity.

Billings Clinic’s Commitment to Improve Access to Care and Quality in Our Community

Billings Clinic has a multifaceted approach to improving access to care and quality within our communities. We are a core member of Healthy By Design, a collaborative coalition of local health care organizations dedicated to improving community health. This includes conducting an annual community health needs assessment (CHNA) and using that information to develop, adopt and implement a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) every three years for Yellowstone County.

Billings Clinic has a commitment to addressing the expanding needs of the healthcare workforce. This includes outreach to local school districts to education on healthcare careers, hosting job shadows and student rotations for clinical experiences, operating multiple medical residencies, and developing internal training programs for our team.

Additionally, Billings Clinic manages a number of population-specific programs to address identified needs across our communities, such as the MOMS Grant, Asthma Grant, and Telehealth Services. A full list of projects address health equity is available in the Annual Health Equity Report. Read more about how Billings Clinic is addressing health equity in our 2023 Health Equity Report.