A joint study by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the UC Berkeley Labor Center found that two-thirds of the estimated 2.6 million adults who will become eligible for federal subsidies in California’s health-insurance exchange are Black, Latino or Asian, and 36 percent of those currently uninsured and expected to be covered under ACA have limited English proficiency.

While the ACA mandates that health plans be translated into appropriate languages in areas where 10 percent or more of the population speaks a language other than English, the bigger challenge is getting culturally competent information out to explain the new rules.

California is one of 18 states setting up its own health exchange to help newly insured people compare and purchase health-insurance plans. The remaining states will default to the Federal Health Exchange.

The California exchange chose its name—Covered California—because it translates well into several of California’s commonly spoken languages. The organization’s website has a Spanish version as well as one in 11 other languages, including Farsi, Khmer, Lao, Russian and Tagalog. The site contains clear information about what is covered and includes definitions of new healthcare terminology.

Consumers may well choose a health insurer based on the resources insurers can share about how patients will be cared for in a culturally competent manner under each insurer’s plan. WellPoint’s Anthem Blue Cross (WellPoint is No. 34 on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list) and Kaiser Permanente (No. 3 on the DiversityInc Top 50) are among the four largest insurers of the approximately 30 that will be offered by Covered California. WellPoint offers services in five languages  and has an online Spanish video that introduces members to its most popular programs. Anthem has produced a cultural-competence resource for physicians and healthcare professionals that is intended to help reduce health disparities caused by a lack of culturally or linguistically competent care. The new toolkit is available on a website dedicated to cultural and linguistic competency.

Kaiser Permanente has a link on its website to numerous in-language plan materials and just released a Spanish version of its healthcare-reform website. Kaiser, which provides healthcare as well as health insurance, also has a National Linguistic & Cultural Programs department that develop strategies to ensure meaningful access to healthcare and services for people with limited English. Kaiser presented its program to train and use staff members as bilingual translators and its Diversity and Health Video Series, a cultural-competence training tool, at a recent DiversityInc Innovation Fest!

The post Language Challenge: Selling Health Insurance to 2.6 Million Californians appeared first on DiversityInc.

A sobering new U.S. Senate report indicates that nearly 57 million people in the U.S.—about one in five—live in areas where they do not have adequate access to primary healthcare because of a shortage of providers. This shortage is most pronounced in rural and low-income areas, and it means more emergency-room visits, less access to preventive care, and less chance of someone establishing a relationship of trust with a healthcare provider.

Access to primary care has repeatedly been shown to have a strong impact on health disparities: One study from 2005 showed that access reduced deaths among Blacks four times more than among whites—even after controlling for education and income. Findings such as this usually point to the value primary care provides in terms of early detection and treatment of conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, and in terms of the ability to be screened for cancers, such as colon cancer, which are more likely to be treatable if discovered early.

As the shortage intensifies, the Association of American Medical Colleges reports that, while there has been a decrease in Black men applying to, accepted to, and entering medical school overall, among all people who do apply, Blacks expressed a greater interest in primary-care fields than other demographic groups.

Blacks and Latinos are also willing to practice medicine in underserved areas more than any other group. Yet the gap will not be closed any time soon if the percentage of medical-school graduates does not better reflect the U.S. population: Over the past two years, the percentage of white entrants to medical school exceeded all other racial and ethnic groups by a substantial amount—57.1 percent in 2010 and 57.5 percent in 2011—while Black and Latino entrants were less than 15 percent of the total. Consider that Blacks and Latinos together are almost 30 percent of the U.S. population (and increasing rapidly, especially Latinos), and the gap seems even greater.

Further, these percentages of graduates are not necessarily even translating into similar percentages of practicing physicians. Blacks represent 14 percent of the U.S. population and only 4 percent of physicians, according to U.S. Census data and the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile, as reported by Kaiser Permanente. Meanwhile, Latinos represent 16 percent of the population and 5 percent of physicians.

In June 2012, Kaiser Permanente took a substantial step to close this gap: The organization expanded its relationship with National Medical Fellowships and contributed $1 million to support medical students through education and training programs. NMF is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to increase the pipeline of doctors, nurses and physician assistants from underrepresented groups by providing scholarships to medical students and by offering service learning programs to students in the health professions.

Cleveland’s University Hospitals is strongly committed to such efforts and has seen impressive results through its David Satcher Clerkship, a national model for recruiting Black and Latino medical students. Since the program’s inception in 1991, UH has increased its Black and Latino representation from 3 to 10 percent. The hospital’s Henry L. Meyer III KeyBank Faculty Minority Fellows Program is another of UH’s efforts to develop medical staff to provide culturally competent care.

The Mayo Clinic’s Minority Medical Student Career Development Programs are designed to help train students in meeting the needs of a diverse patient population. Mayo’s College of Medicine Diversity in Education Blog provides students a place to connect with each other and with those outside Mayo Clinic who are interested in working or receiving medical training there.

The post Can Black and Latino Doctors Solve the Primary-Healthcare Crisis? appeared first on DiversityInc.

Companies that most effectively market diversity-related awards make the connection between the awards and talent development or customer populations:

PricewaterhouseCoopers, No. 1 in the DiversityInc Top 50, has an extensive awards page accessible through the About Us tab on its homepage. The page is divided into three sections that highlight awards related to the firm’s talent: Top Employer, Diversity/Inclusion and Women. Some of the awards featured prominently include:

• Ranking No. 1 on the DiversityInc Top 50 and ranking on five of DiversityInc’s other lists: No. 1 on Companies for Recruitment & Retention, No. 1 on Companies for Executive Women, No. 5 on Companies for Global Diversity, No. 6 on Companies for LGBT Employees and No. 8 on Companies for Asian Americans.
• Receiving a 100 percent rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index from 2006–2013.
• Receiving the 2012 NABA Corporate Partner of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Accountants, a key industry-related partner.

Kaiser Permanente, No. 3 in the DiversityInc Top 50, promotes its diversity awards in the News Center section of its website. For example:

–Debby Scheinholz, Vice President of Consulting, DiversistyInc

The post Ask DiversityInc: What Are Best Practices for Leveraging Diversity Awards & Lists? appeared first on DiversityInc.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Representatives from Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met today in the new offices for those working to rebuild Haiti’s public health infrastructure, three years after an earthquake devastated the country.

On January 12, 2010, a major earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti, killing an estimated 200,000 people. The aftermath drove tens of thousands of people from their homes and left the country’s already fragile public health infrastructure in tatters.

Kaiser Permanente made a pledge to the CDC Foundation’s earthquake response efforts in its drive to support public health department assistance in Haiti. Kaiser Permanente’s donation provided a new building with offices for Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population (Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population or MSPP).

“Public health departments are a critical infrastructure for communities, not only in times of a natural disaster, but for the ongoing protection of a community’s health over time,” said Raymond J. Baxter, PhD, Kaiser Permanente’s senior vice president for Community Benefit, Research and Health Policy. “Without a proper place to work, it would be extremely difficult to coordinate efforts to rebuild Haiti’s public health infrastructure and respond to the country’s ongoing public health needs.”

Kaiser Permanente’s donation affirmed the organization’s longstanding partnership with the CDC to protect the public’s health. The funding also provided furnishings, fixtures, electronics, computers, printers, and internet connectivity at the new building.

Kaiser Permanente is joined in Haiti with the Honorable Pamela White (U.S. Ambassador to Haiti), Florence Guillaume, MD (Haiti’s Minister of Public Health and Population), Tom Frieden, MD (director of the CDC) and Charles Stokes (president and CEO of the CDC Foundation).

“These investments are another positive action helping to move Haiti’s public health system from the disaster and recovery phase into a longer-term solution. Importantly, these two new buildings have encouraged additional investments,” Dr. Guillaume said. “As an example, the investments by the CDC Foundation’s partners in our new MSPP building helped leverage additional support from the United Nations and USAID for an expanded MSPP complex. When this complex opens, it will include an additional 11 buildings to house 250 Haitian public health workers. Altogether, these investments will create synergies to better serve the public health needs of the Haitian people.”

“We are grateful that our partners recognized the need for a comprehensive response to the earthquake in Haiti and for their generous contributions to build these new facilities,” said Charles Stokes, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. “Kaiser Permanente’s support for the Ministry of Public Health and Population’s central office in Haiti was critical to making this building a reality for the people of Haiti. This effort is an example of how public-private partnerships can make significant contributions to benefit public health.”

In addition to the CDC Foundation donation, Kaiser Permanente supported four nonprofit agencies in 2010 that were already on the ground providing much-needed aid to the people of Haiti. Kaiser Permanente physicians and nurses trained in disaster relief immediately departed to Haiti following the earthquake on behalf of aid organizations with which they had been affiliated.

Kaiser Permanente and the CDC Foundation also partnered during the relief phase of Hurricane Katrina to support public health departments impacted by the storm and by evacuees seeking care after leaving their homes in Gulf Coast communities. Together, the organizations helped provide modular buildings for two public health departments in Mississippi, which has supported the long-term recovery for public health in the region.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/newscenter.

The post Kaiser Permanente Partners with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to Strengthen Public Health Infrastructure in Haiti appeared first on DiversityInc.

Two recent studies in medical journals build on the mounting evidence: Food and drink makers are funding their own research studies that (not surprisingly) fail to reveal the health risks from their products that have been repeatedly proven elsewhere. At the same time, these companies are coming up with creative corporate-responsibility campaigns that hide the risks of empty calories behind campaigns for wellness, exercise, and support of Black and Latino communities—the very ones that would benefit most from replacing processed food with fresh choices.

Nowhere is the impact of corporate muscle more evident than in New York City, where 58 percent of adults are overweight or obese, with that rate reaching 70 percent in Black, Latino and low-income communities—and where Mayor Michael Bloomberg has faced a barrage of criticism for his plan to ban the sale of soft drinks larger than 16 oz. Organizations like the NAACP—which has a goal to eradicate health disparities—has sued to block the law, claiming it will hurt minority-owned small businesses (not to mention the effect the ban will have on the NAACP’s deep-pocketed corporate sponsors). The federal government has been asked to step in, but so far nothing’s happened.

It’s not all bad news from corporate America. Some health-based organizations take a direct approach to bringing healthy food to communities they serve. Kaiser Permanente has had Community Health Initiatives since 2004—with strategies such as supporting a weekly farmers market in Los Angeles’ Watts neighborhood (where 98 percent of residents are Black or Latino) beginning to show results; and a commitment to provide healthier food to Kaiser’s own employees and patients. Kaiser Permanente and Time Warner’s HBO have also funded the documentary series The Weight of the Nation, shown on HBO last spring but now available free online.

Kaiser Permanente is No. 3 in the DiversityInc Top 50, and Time Warner is No. 40.

The post Why Are So Many Blacks & Latinos Fat? Research From Manufacturers Hides the Truth appeared first on DiversityInc.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which falls on the third Monday of January, is a federal holiday around the time of Dr. King’s Jan. 15 birthday. It was declared a federal holiday in 1986 and is now observed in all 50 states, with South Carolina the last to adopt it, in 2000. According to the Bureau of National Statistics, about a third of private employers now give employees the day off. A questionnaire sent to the 587 participants in the DiversityInc Top 50 survey found that 61 percent close their offices—and all but two of the companies on the DiversityInc Top 50 list are closed.

• 96 percent of the companies in the survey observe the holiday in some way.
• 65 percent of the companies that close also plan additional events and volunteer efforts for employees.
• 91 percent of the participants that stay open plan additional events and volunteer efforts for employees.

In addition to office closures, the responses show that companies rely on four strategies to commemorate MLK Day: Volunteerism, Resource Groups, Events and Corporate Communications. Below, we share best practices from more than 20 companies.

Volunteerism

Forty percent of the companies we surveyed encourage employees to utilize the holiday as a day of service and volunteerism. Several companies, including Kaiser Permanente (No. 3 in the DiversityInc Top 50), Marriott International (No. 21) and Accenture (No. 12), give employees the day off to serve nonprofits aimed at underrepresented groups in their communities through a call to action for the National Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

• “For the ninth consecutive year, Kaiser Permanente is proud to participate in the National Day of Service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On this day, thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees and physicians will step out of lab coats and suits and into painting caps and tool belts, rolling up their sleeves in community service to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and his commitment to improving lives through dedicated service. Last year, employees broke records with more than 7,000 volunteers, including physicians and senior leaders, a 10 percent increase from the previous year. Volunteer activities took place at over 130 sites across the country, serving an estimated 35,000 people.” —Rosalind Padilla, Senior Project Manager, Workforce Diversity, National Diversity, Kaiser Permanente

• “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day of Service has become an annual call to action for volunteers across the country to get involved in meaningful community service. In this spirit of celebration, Accenture people in Detroit and Washington, D.C., will take time to give back by participating in local MLK Day events in January 2013. … Accenture’s Carolinas African American employee resource group in Charlotte will be joining with the Charlotte Experienced Hire employee resource group to serve the Charlotte community through the Habitat for Humanity MLK Day Build project. Accenture volunteers in the Miami office are invited to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy and participate in various service activities. Volunteer groups will also be participating in landscaping, mural painting and gardening projects to help beautify the school grounds.”  —Stacey Jones, Senior Director, Corporate Marketing, Accenture 

• “Marriott International honors the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in many ways. We host ongoing volunteer activities in various geographical regions where associates can serve as volunteers.”  —Maruiel Perkins-Chavis, Vice President, Workforce Effectiveness & Diversity, Marriott International 

• “At Walmart, Dr. King’s message aligns with our company’s three basic beliefs: respect for the individual, service to our customer, and striving for excellence. 2013 will mark Walmart’s 17th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. In addition to a home-office program where Mayor Dennis, the Honorable Alexis Herman and Tavis Smiley have served as guest speakers, the company has also collaborated with community-based organizations and school districts in community programs. The company also has a Day of Service project that encourages our associates to give back to our community. As Dr. King represented a lifetime of service, Walmart is committed to serve our associates and our customers.” —Donald Fan, Senior Director, Global Office of Diversity, Walmart

• “Altria encourages our employees to use Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service volunteering in honor of Rev. King. We sent a communication that went out to our company employees letting them know how they could get involved: Make It a Day On, Not a Day Off. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service (MLK Day) marks the beginning of the year of service as millions of Americans honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by volunteering in their communities. The Altria Volunteers program is one of the cornerstones of ‘Contributing Together,’ giving employees the opportunity to get involved in their community by participating in volunteer events. In support of our volunteer program, Altria Group and its companies have partnered with the HandsOn Network to positively impact local communities nationwide while simultaneously promoting strong corporate citizenship and employee-engagement goals.” —Nancy Adams, Senior Manager – Diversity / AAP / HR Client Services, Altria Client Services

• “Last year, as in previous years, Harland Clarke has encouraged our employees to take on the true spirit of Martin Luther King Day by serving the community. Rather than taking the day ‘off,’ our employees take a day ‘on’ of service.” —Stacy Franklin, Vice President of Human Resources, Diversity and Workforce Performance, Harland Clarke

• “Independence Blue Cross’s corporate volunteerism group, the Blue Crew, participates in the Martin Luther King Day of Service.” —John F. Clayton Jr., Manager, Diversity, Inclusion & Workforce Initiatives, Independence Blue Cross 

Resource Groups

Thirty percent of companies’ Black resource groups take the lead in planning celebrations, events and communications to promote Dr. King’s message of inclusion to all employees. The resource groups frequently volunteer within their communities as well.

• “Some of Ernst & Young’s Black Professional Networks (BPN) have convened client events in honor of Black History Month. For example, our West Sub-Area BPN co-hosted a ‘Black History Month Executive Roundtable’ last year with the Kaiser Permanente African-American Professional Association. The event featured a panel moderated by Tony Kendall (Chairman and CEO, Mitchell & Titus, LLP) and panelists from Gilead Sciences, Kaiser Permanente, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, AAA Northern California, Textainer Group and CBS Interactive. … Our Boston office BPN held its second annual Black History Month celebration last year, where it recognized members and champions alike for their involvement and support.” —Emily Lobel Kameros, Associate Director, Inclusiveness, Americas People Team, Ernst & Young (No. 6 on the DiversityInc Top 50)

• “This year, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield’s African-American affinity group, Enlightenment and Empowerment Enterprise, had invited the League of Women Voters of New Jersey to participate in our celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. They showcased their organization by distributing literature informing our employees about the importance of registering to vote as well as how they can get involved in the voter-registration drive. Bookmarks, which contained a reprint of one of Dr. King’s speeches, were also distributed to our employees. In addition to our affinity group’s luncheon, we run excerpts of several of Dr. King’s videoed speeches as well as various quotes and historical facts regarding Dr. King on our internal television monitors during that time as well.” —Alison Banks-Moore, Chief Diversity Officer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (one of DiversityInc’s Top 10 Regional Companies)

• “Accenture’s Detroit African American employee-resource group will convene for an interactive panel discussion entitled ‘Living the Dream … the Accenture Way’ to reflect on Dr. King’s legacy and how diverse workplaces like Accenture, and our clients, are providing an inclusive environment and what things can be done as we continue to move forward. In coordination with the event, Accenture employees will host a canned-goods drive to collect nonperishable foods that will be donated to Detroit-based Capuchin Soup Kitchen. … Accenture’s African-American employee-resource group in Philadelphia will work with the YWCA for a day of workshops and mentoring.” —Stacey Jones, Senior Director, Corporate Marketing, Accenture

• “AT&T’s African American resource group—Community NETwork—participates in several January events across the nation: The Connecticut chapter sponsors a bus trip to the Presidential Inauguration and reflects on Martin Luther King Jr.’s life too as we pay tribute to President Barack Obama’s being elected to a second term in office; the Detroit chapter’s MLK Oratorical Program will have singing and liturgical dance, featuring 10 students reciting the ‘I Have a Dream Speech’; Chicago and Charlotte chapters will participate in A Day of Service, honoring Martin Luther King Jr.; and San Antonio chapters are the major sponsors of the largest MLK parade in the nation. We expect to have close to 100 employees marching in the parade. Also, the Oklahoma City Community NETwork chapter will participate in its local, Oklahoma City MLK parade.” —Forrest Parrott, Executive Director – Internal Communications, AT&T (No. 4 on the DiversityInc Top 50)

• “Each year, H.O.N.O.R. (Helping Our Neighbors With Our Resources) and the A.A.L.C. (African American Leadership Council), two of Johnson & Johnson’s enterprise-wide resource groups, celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This annual ceremony, now in its 35th year, also serves as a means to honor members of the Johnson & Johnson companies and the local community who have inspired and demonstrated a passion for others through caring and service.” —Anthony Carter, Vice President, Global Diversity & Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, Johnson & Johnson (No. 11 on the DiversityInc Top 50)

• “IMPACT, Humana’s African-American Network Resource Group, coordinated an ‘Impact Day’ for Humana associates to give a day of service to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Members from all five of our Network Resource Groups volunteered at the following nonprofit organizations: Newburg Boys & Girls Club, Christian Care Community Rehabilitation Center and ElderServe. —Kai Vaughn, Inclusion & Diversity Consultant, Humana

• “Our resource groups take the opportunity to educate Kellogg employees about Dr. King’s work via communications, newsletters, etc.” —Mark King, Chief Diversity Officer, Kellogg (No. 49 on the DiversityInc Top 50)

• “Progressive’s African American resource group PAAN plans a celebration for those who are working through a process we call ‘Celebration in a Box,’ which allows various groups using several formats to celebrate the occasion.” —Neil Lenane, Director of Employee Experience, Progressive Insurance

Special Dr. King & Black History Events

Almost 30 percent of companies host corporate events with guest speakers to discuss the significance of Dr. Martin Luther King, civil rights, diversity and inclusion, and Black History Month.

• “Wells Fargo buys local and national print-media advertising as well as radio spots to honor the life of Dr. King. A number of regions participate in MLK Day parades, breakfasts and other volunteer activities to support the communities where our team members live and work. In 2012, Wells Fargo served as the official financial-services-sector sponsor of the premiere of the George Lucas film Red Tails. With a special connection to the Tuskegee Airmen, Wells Fargo honored two of its retired Wells Fargo team members, Colonel George S. Roberts and Lieutenant James Walker.” —Jimmie Paschall, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Diversity & Inclusion, Wells Fargo, No. 33 on the DiversityInc Top 50

• “The North Shore–LIJ Health System has held an annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Program honoring Dr. King for the past 42 years. This year’s theme is ‘Living the Dream … the Next Generation.’ The program, hosted by the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Literacy, is held in the auditorium of one of our larger hospitals and is also telecast to all of our sites (15 hospitals) through the Health System’s videoconferencing network. This year’s keynote speaker for the 43rd annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Program will be John Quiñones, Emmy Award–winning co-anchor of ABC’s Primetime and sole anchor of the series What Would You Do? … We also sponsor a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Creative Arts Contest for the children of our employees. The winners are presented with prizes at the event.” —Barbara Felker, Vice President, Community and External Affairs, North Shore–Long Island Jewish Health System

• “We start our branded Black History Month celebration—”AT&T 28 Days”—every year on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It’s a six-week program with TV, radio, digital integration and live events in seven markets. This year, we will begin in Chicago on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We also have an annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration luncheon in Atlanta with prominent speakers that is open to the members of our 11 resource groups.” —Forrest Parrott, Executive Director – Internal Communications, AT&T

• “In 2012, Kellogg commemorated Dr. King’s legacy by being a sponsor of the Rainbow PUSH’s annual MLK Scholarship Breakfast in Chicago.” —Mark King, Chief Diversity Officer, Kellogg

• “Army and Airforce Exchange Service always has an official program during commemoration week with a guest speaker and display posters. Our guest speaker is Theron Bowman, Ph.D., Deputy City Manager, former Chief of Police, Arlington, Texas; Consultant, Nation Builder, Police Practices Expert, and Entrepreneur.” —Carlyn Houston, EEO Programs Specialist, EEO Diversity and Inclusion, Army and Airforce Exchange Service

Internal Office Communications

Approximately 21 percent of companies send messaging via emails, newsletters and/or corporate intranets to communicate the relevance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day to employees. Some companies, including Ernst & Young, pair these efforts with messaging about Black History Month as well.

• “Comcast and NBCUniversal have changed the homepage of our new corporate website to feature a compelling 1965 Meet The Press interview with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. During the interview, Dr. King discusses the march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., to help raise awareness of the difficulty faced by black voters in the South and the need for a Voting Rights Act, which passed later that year. Additional historic photos and videos from NBC News’ coverage of the civil-rights movement can be found within the story. Please share this link to help share an important piece of American history.” —Katie Lubenow, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, Comcast (one of DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy Companies)

• “Ernst & Young’s local offices/regions (and their associated BPNs) do a variety of communications in recognition of Black History Month. For example, last year our McLean BPN ran a series of profiles of black leaders. In addition, they ran a giveaway with complimentary tickets to see Red Tails, the movie based on the real-life heroics of the Tuskegee Airmen.” —Emily Lobel Kameros, Associate Director, Inclusiveness, Americas People Team, Ernst & Young

• “Marriott disseminates communications to our associates that advises them of local community-service opportunities, events and celebrations they can participate in to celebrate of this day of service.” —Maruiel Perkins-Chavis, Vice President, Workforce Effectiveness & Diversity, Marriott International

• “Humana produces an all-associate communication that informs associates of the work of Dr. MLK Jr. and how we at Humana can pay tribute through community service.” —Kai Vaughn, Inclusion & Diversity Consultant, Humana

• “Deloitte shares messages on our intranet and leaders send messages to their teams about the importance of remembering Dr. King.” —Wendy Berk, Senior Manager, Inclusion, Marketing and Communications, Deloitte (No. 8 in the DiversityInc Top 50)

• “Celebrations of Black history held during the month of February have, from time to time, commemorated the life and work of Dr. King. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois plans to post a tribute to Dr. King on our intranet site this year.” —Carolyn Clift, Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Health Care Service Corporation (No. 19 in the DiversityInc Top 50), which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois

• “McGraw-Hill proudly recognizes MLK Day as an official holiday and the offices are closed. We generally post an article or commentary on our intranet site.” —Terri D. Austin, Chief Diversity Officer, The McGraw-Hill Companies (one of DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy Companies)

 Additional Recognition & Charity Contributions

• “This year will be our 21st Peoria-local luncheon. Caterpillar was the first company to sponsor the luncheon financially. This year, we have Condoleezza Rice as our guest speaker and Caterpillar has not only generously provided financial contribution, but has two tables and is flying Dr. Rice into Peoria on the corporate jet.” —Alma Brown, Communications Representative, Caterpillar Inc.

• “The majority of Johnson & Johnson’s contribution efforts go toward the Frank R. Steele Scholarship Fund, set up by the H.O.N.O.R organization in 1984, that provides financial assistance through the Middlesex County College Foundation to African-American students studying for degrees in Business Administration and Science.” —Anthony Carter, Vice President, Global Diversity & Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, Johnson & Johnson

• “Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois celebrates Martin Luther King Day as a corporate holiday.  All employees get the day off. Our Illinois headquarters building is illuminated on Martin Luther King Day with MLK [across the façade].” —Carolyn Clift, Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Health Care Service Corporation

• “In Bentonville, Ark., Walmart sponsored the essay contest for local sixth graders where students reflected on Dr. King’s message of equality and discussed how they were living Dr. King’s dream.” —Donald Fan, Senior Director, Global Office of Diversity, Walmart

The post Dr. King & Civil Rights: How Walmart, AT&T & More Keep It Relevant appeared first on DiversityInc.

The presenters—David Casey, Vice President of Workforce Strategies and Chief Diversity Officer, CVS Caremark; Susan Autera, Director, Business & Technical Leadership, and Shivani Kathuria, Business & Technical Leadership Partner, IBM; and Christine Talbot, Vice President, Human Resources, and Barry Myers, Director, National Leadership Development, Kaiser Permanente—discussed:

• How CVS Caremark Tracks Talent Development: the company’s nine-box talent matrix rates employees’ current performance and future potential. The goal is to have a diverse in-house slate for higher-level openings.
• Why IBM Promotes Learning From Leaders: Rather than a traditional mentoring program, female high-potentials interview women senior executives in an effort to understand and document their career journeys. The company then tries to replicate recurring themes to accelerate the careers of its future women leaders.
• How Kaiser Permanente Sets High Standards: To make sure that high-potentials have the right tools to take on leadership roles, Kaiser has four management-development programs, including a Diversity Leadership Program that pairs executives and mentees.

Takeaways include: How to on-board of new hires to improve retention, set requirements for diverse candidate slates, use your executive diversity council to set diversity goals, and get senior-level executives involved in cross-cultural mentoring.

Please log in to watch the presentation and download the slides.

Not a subscriber? Buy this web seminar now, or request subscriber information and pricing for DiversityIncBestPractices.com. 

The post Web Seminar: Ensuring Diversity in Succession Planning appeared first on DiversityInc.

Tyson, the current President and Chief Operating Officer, was interviewed by DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti the day he was named to the position. To hear audio of the interview, click on the audio players below. Tyson also spoke at our diversity event, emphasizing the organization’s emphasis on cultural competency and an inclusive workplace.

Cultural competence in healthcare is a hallmark of both Kaiser Permanente and Tyson’s personal priorities. “Our mission is to continue to become better educated and increase our competency in understanding the nuances of how we care for a diverse population,” he told DiversityInc. “The Institute for Culturally Competent Care is a training ground. … It’s a metaphor for where the brain trust is to help the rest of the organization better understand how to care for diverse populations.”

In addressing corporate leaders who are selecting a health-insurance provider, he noted that the commitment to diversity is critical. “Your employees will see themselves in the walls of Kaiser Permanente. We are a diverse organization, taking care of diverse people,” he said.

Where Are All the Black CEOs? 

Kaiser Permanente, No. 3 on The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list, is not in the Fortune 500 since it is a nonprofit. However, the naming of a Black person to lead this major organization is a significant step. Currently, only 1.2 percent of Fortune 500 companies have Black CEOs, compared with 4 percent of the DiversityInc Top 50.

Kaiser Permanente’s Next CEO: Why Healthcare Reform, Cultural Competence Are Financial Decisions

Tyson noted Halvorson’s legacy of creating the most diverse top of the organization in the DiversityInc Top 50. “My job is to build on that and leverage the great strength of the diversity as we continue to deal with very complex problems in this country and the healthcare system,” he said.

Tyson is chairman of the board of directors of The Executive Leadership Council, which works to improve Black representation in senior levels across Fortune 500 and equivalent organizations. He emphasized the need for diversity from all underrepresented groups at the tops of organizations. He also is on the board of the American Heart Association.

Increasing Engagement and Motivation

Tyson discussed his long career at Kaiser, saying: “I’ve been afforded over the 28 years wonderful experiences in multiple roles. … At the end of the day, what has kept me here is that I believe in the mission, in high-quality affordable care.”

He added: “It’s all about creating an environment where the people bring their best thinking forward and are respected and recognized for that. The benefit is to have a highly motivated staff coming to work every day, taking care of our 9 million plus members.”

New CEO: Kaiser Permanente’s Innovation, Affordability Delivers Economic Advantage

The decision to name Tyson came after an exhaustive search. “The full board of directors underwent an extensive internal and external search process, meeting regularly to consider a number of highly qualified candidates, to identify the next leader of Kaiser Permanente,” said Kim Kaiser, board member and chairman of the search committee. “The board’s decision to offer this position to Mr. Tyson is a testament to Kaiser Permanente’s robust internal succession-planning process. During Mr. Tyson’s 28 years at Kaiser Permanente, he has demonstrated excellent leadership and vision for this organization, uniquely qualifying him to serve as our next chairman and CEO.”

Kaiser Permanente’s succession planning will be featured in our diversity web seminar on succession planning, which will include best practices from IBM and CVS Caremark as well, on Dec. 4.

“The board made an excellent choice,” said Halvorson.

“Bernard has done an extremely good job as President and COO of Kaiser Permanente, and I am confident he will continue to perform at the same level as Chairman and CEO.”

Tyson has been President and COO for almost two years. Previously, he was Executive Vice President of Health Plan and Hospital Operations for Kaiser as well as Senior Vice President and COO for the organization’s regions outside of California.

He has a bachelor’s degree in Health Services Management and an MBA in Health Care Administration and Management from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. He also earned an advanced leadership certificate from Harvard University.

The post Interview With Bernard Tyson, Next CEO of Kaiser Permanente appeared first on DiversityInc.

The report, Putting Men’s Health Care Disparities On The Map: Examining Racial and Ethnic Disparities at the State Level, documents the persistence of disparities between white men and men of color—and among different groups within men of color—on 22 indicators of health and well-being, including rates of diseases such as AIDS, cancer, heart disease and diabetes, as well as insurance coverage and health screenings. It also documents disparities in factors that influence health and access to care such as income and education.

This new analysis provides state-level data for men of many racial and ethnic populations that have not been available before. Among the findings:

• American Indian and Alaska native men had higher rates of health and access problems than men in other racial and ethnic groups on nearly all health indicators. They also had the highest poverty rate and second worst educational attainment, unemployment rate and incarceration rate.
• More than four in 10 Latino men lacked insurance (46 percent) and a personal health care provider (49 percent), and more than a fifth (22 percent) had no doctor visit in the previous year due to cost. Latino men also had the lowest median household income, the largest wage gap compared to white men and the lowest educational status.
• Black men had much higher rates of poverty and incarceration and lower rates of high school graduation than whites. The most striking health disparity was that nationally Black men were more than seven times as likely as white men to be newly diagnosed with AIDS, with a rate of 101.5 new AIDS cases per 100,000 Blacks ages 13 and older compared with 13.5 new cases per 100,000 whites. The disparity was even larger in some states, such as Nebraska,Pennsylvania, and Maryland, where the rate of new AIDS cases was more than 10 times as high among black men compared to whites.
• Nationally, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander men had the lowest rate of health problems and the fewest barriers to access of all subgroups of men, even white men.
• While white men fared better than minority men on most access and social indicators, they had higher rates of some health problems than men of color, such as higher rates of smoking and binge drinking. For example, inWisconsin35 percent of white men reported binge drinking compared with 20 percent of minority men.
• Some of the states with the greatest access disparities between white and minority men included Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C., all of which also exhibited some of the greatest disparities in income between white and minority men. Several states with relatively large Native American populations—Arizona,North Dakota and South Dakota—also had large disparities in access between white and minority men.

The full report, including detailed state-by-state data tables and related fact sheets, is available online.

A companion report released in 2009 examines similar racial and ethnic disparities among women, and includes state fact sheets and interactive data tables, also is available.

For more on decreasing disparities in healthcare, watch the video below on WellPoint’s innovative Community Ambassador Program:

For closed captioning, press the “CC” icon in the YouTube player.

Also read:

Eliminating Healthcare Disparities: How Kaiser Permanente & Trinity Health Close Racial Gaps

The Business Case for Diversity in Healthcare

Can Culturally Competent Healthcare Close Disparities Gaps?

The post What Disease Hits Black Men Most? appeared first on DiversityInc.

Those organizations are most ready for the influx of an estimated 32 million new consumers, most of them lower-income Blacks and Latinos, and the need to care for them on a sustainable basis emphasizing wellness as opposed to constant crisis management. The critical factor in their business strategies, they tell us, is the ability to offer culturally competent healthcare and connect on a large scale to the communities they serve while being more cost effective.

“Our assessment is that the Supreme Court decision on health reform will accelerate existing trends in healthcare and the marketplace,” says Dr. Patricia Simmons, executive medical director for Health Policy at the Mayo Clinic. Those trends include consolidation of facilities, new organizations that combine hospitals and insurance companies, increased accountability for metrics-driven results, and a strong focus on community outreach.

Successful implementation of diversity-management initiatives is giving organizations such as Kaiser Permanente, Eli Lilly and Company, WellPoint, Mayo Clinic, University Hospitals, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Health Care Service Corporation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Massachusetts General, Cleveland Clinic and the Henry Ford Health System a competitive edge in the new world of expanding affordable healthcare.

“Healthcare reform challenges diversity and inclusion to keep and expand our place at the table,” says Linda Jimenez, chief diversity officer at WellPoint.

Diversity Management Connects to Community

In interviews with DiversityInc, these 11 organizations tell a similar story, with minor variations depending on their business model. All have been long-time diversity leaders, appearing either on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list or The DiversityInc Top 5 Hospital Systems list (and one company is on The DiversityInc Top 10 Regional Companies list). All anticipate (and are already seeing) an influx of new patients/customers, mostly from lower-income families, predominantly Latino and Black.

They stress the need to offer culturally competent healthcare and to emphasize wellness prevention and disease management instead of frequent, costly trips to emergency rooms and urgent-care sessions. All are looking at ways to serve far more people, operating more efficiently and streamlining costs. Several of the hospital systems are worried that Medicare funding might not cover their increasing treatment costs.

The resounding sentiment from leaders in these organizations is that their long-term commitments to culturally competent care through diversity-management initiatives have left them in a better strategic position to improve market share. They point to the importance of resource groups in reaching the community and promoting health education. They cite diversity training for customer-facing employees and the need for an employee and leadership base that represents the communities they serve.

Here is an industry-by-industry look at their changing business models and how critical diversity management is to their sustainable success. 

The Affordable Care Act emphasizes preventive care, to save costs by helping more low-income Americans take care of themselves before expensive and life-threatening diseases such as diabetes, cancer, AIDS and high blood pressure develop and to minimize the damage of these diseases in those who already have them. The law specifically calls for investments in community health teams, community health centers and expanded initiatives to increase racial and ethnic diversity in healthcare teams.

Cost Containment: Hospitals

The dilemma for hospitals is how to provide more access while lowering costs at the same time.  “It really requires a lot of innovation to reduce costs, and no one’s figured out how to do it,” says Jeff Davis, senior vice president of Human Resources at Massachusetts General, No. 5 in The DiversityInc Top 5 Hospital Systems.

“It’s clear that the new normal in healthcare will involve getting paid less to do more,” says Oliver Henkel, chief external affairs officer at the Cleveland Clinic, No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 5 Hospital Systems. “There will be more patients with access to healthcare, but private and government insurers will pay hospitals and doctors less and less to care for patients. Therefore, we have to drive efficiencies and cost containment to be able to accommodate the increased demand for healthcare.”

There are healthcare models in place, however, that offer best practices in increasing the prevalence of care to underserved communities without adding employees.

Kaiser Permanente, which has both hospitals and health insurance, has made eliminating healthcare disparities through community outreach a key part of its mission for decades.

“Many in the industry are trying to move toward an accountable care model and there will be more people in the marketplace trying to compete on that basis (alliances between insurance, hospitals and physicians). We’ve been in that business for over 60 years,” says Christine Paige, senior vice president of Marketing and Internet Services at Kaiser Permanente (No. 3 in the DiversityInc Top 50).

The difference now is in volume and the impact of having a substantial number of people entering the market in a short period of time, she says. To that end, Kaiser has been expanding its system capabilities through more bilingual employees, increased communications and more personalized experiences for patient populations through more detailed electronic health records. Kaiser Permanente shared its bilingual program at DiversityInc’s Innovation Fest!

University Hospitals, located in the greater Cleveland area, is moving toward an accountable care organization (ACO) to address the changing marketplace. ACOs rely on metrics and cost-care reductions for assigned groups of patients by making hospitals and doctors directly accountable to the patients and the insurance companies for the quality and efficiency of the healthcare delivery. ACOs were piloted with Medicare patients and now, under the Affordable Care Act, will be used for Medicaid patients as well.

“We are facing a doctor shortage in Ohio,” says Dr. Eric Bieber, chief medical officer for University Hospitals, No. 2 in The DiversityInc Top 5 Hospital Systems. “We can handle it but we need to be efficient and do what’s right for the patient. We now have an integrated delivery system that helps us touch more patients with our primary-care physicians—and not in the emergency rooms.”

At the Mayo Clinic, the hospital is working on creative reimbursement models for insurance companies to “control costs and increase value and make care more affordable,” says Dr. Simmons. Mayo Clinic is also working on improving relationships with other hospitals and medical institutions to provide better access. For example, an affiliate-practice network from various medical institutions sends physicians to treat patients at local affiliates and helps patients stay in their communities. Mayo Clinic is No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 5 Hospital Systems.

The Henry Ford Health System in Detroit last year bought a Medicaid health-maintenance organization (HMO) so it can offer Medicaid patients comprehensive care. “Hospitals need to better provide care. It’s really about how we can survive financially when more people have insurance,” says CEO Nancy Schlichting. But she worries that the act, as it stands now, isn’t giving hospitals enough funding for the addition. “The population is the same; it’s just how we pay for them. We’re advocating very hard for the expansion of Medicaid funding.”

Henry Ford, she says, now receives more than $200 million a year in uncompensated healthcare, but under the act as it stands now, that amount is cut to $30 million. “It’s really how we can survive financially,” she says. “When people have insurance, as they now will, they won’t wait to go to the doctors. We don’t need to change our operations, just our payment system.” Henry Ford Health System is No. 1 in The DiversityInc Top 5 Hospital Systems.

At Massachusetts General, the situation is a little different because the state has had universal healthcare in effect since 2006 and 97 percent of state residents already have health insurance, according to Davis.

“We adjusted to meet access demands but are still trying to increase the number of primary-care physicians, nurses and physicians’ assistants. Nationally, the first few years of the law will be all about access. It will require a lot of innovation to reduce costs,” he says. He believes the increase in ACOs will allow more people community access.

Cost Containment: Insurance Companies

For the health-insurance companies, the Affordable Care Act literally turns the landscape upside down. In addition to providing insurance for millions of low-income Americans, they can no longer deny care to those with pre-existing, and often expensive, conditions.

For these organizations, the urgent business shift is in focusing on consumers rather than business sales. And cost-savings are critical. “Right now we know that we have to do a lot of work to be a viable player in the consumer market,” says Jon Urbanek, senior vice president, Sales and Marketing for Employer Markets, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF), No. 6 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Regional Companies. “Our focus is on significantly improving our consumer capabilities. At the same time, we’re the leader in the group market and we’ve got to maintain a significant presence there.”

BCBSF has addressed this in the long term by investing in retail centers throughout Florida that will put 90 percent of the population within 30 minutes’ drive of a center. In addition to selling health insurance at the centers, there will be free wellness and screening facilities as well as culturally competent health coaching. The organization also is putting much more health information online, as well as having bilingual call centers. “The information has always been out there, but it’s been in 10 different places in language you can’t understand, and there’s nothing like the ability to see it simply and in one place,” says Urbanek.

Like the hospitals, the insurance companies are often combining efforts to be more efficient. WellPoint, Health Care Service Corporation and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan (all part of the Blue Cross Blue Shield network) now have a joint effort to create a private exchange with a defined contribution approach to give employers information on managing their healthcare offerings.

These efficiencies enable them to focus more on healthcare disparities, says Carolyn Clift, chief diversity officer at Health Care Service Corporation (No. 19 in the DiversityInc Top 50). “We can offer the providers training. We can help them help us determine if they have a language capability they have not included before in a directory … these plans were in place before the Affordable Care Act started to take fold. As a result of the ACA, we’re moving more steadily to implementing more of these programs and projects so we can reach the broad diverse audience.”

Kirk Roy, vice president of National Health Reform at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (one of DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy Companies), notes that the act has direct regulations requiring insurers to communicate in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner. To meet this requirement, the organization partnered with a translation service and now can communicate in more than 100 languages.

Innovation: Pharmas 

For pharmaceutical companies, the challenge to stay competitive is in new drugs that reach the increasingly diverse population. And that requires innovation, which all of the drug firms say requires diversity of thought, experience and background.

“The firms that are already there understand the benefit of a holistic diversity-management approach that makes them better run, have better leadership, have better creativity, better innovation, better productivity and better bottom-line impact,” says Shaun Hawkins, chief diversity officer of Eli Lilly and Company (No. 29 in the DiversityInc Top 50).

While drug manufacturers were relatively untouched by the Affordable Care Act’s specific regulations, they will be strongly affected by expanding rebates for Medicare and Medicaid that will enable more patients to have access to more drugs. That will create a rise in sales volume and patient demand, especially for the influx of new people who are insured.

Because health-insurance companies are looking to cut costs, pharmaceutical companies also will have to demonstrate more cost/benefit of their products. For a company like Eli Lilly, which has had a strong focus on clinical trials aimed at Blacks and Latinos, the emphasis is on developing drugs that effectively prevent and treat the diseases so prevalent in these populations: diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.

“We are an innovation-based company in an innovation-based industry, focused on breakthroughs for the next round of diseases and how they impact race, ethnicity, gender and age,” Hawkins says.

Solutions: Diversity-Management Resources

For the hospitals, resource groups are an increasingly valuable means of connecting to the increasingly multicultural patient base. A critical part of that is the role they play in community education.

At University Hospitals, for example, the resource groups are working with Black and Latino community leaders to conduct prevention screenings and health-education screenings. They recently partnered with corporate and other Cleveland-area healthcare organizations to support a cultural arts fair called Fairfax, primarily aimed at Blacks. The resource groups helped the hospital bring in a team of nurses and health professionals to conduct screenings and encourage them to interact with primary-care physicians.

“Trust is often an issue in the community. The resource-group employees often live in those communities as well,” says Donnie Perkins, chief diversity officer at University Hospitals.

Increasing the level of cultural-competence training is a high priority for the hospitals as well. While Kaiser Permanente has been a leader in this area for years, other hospitals increasingly recognize the importance of this to the new marketplace.

“We are training clinicians to understand what health means and that preferences vary by culture,” says Dr. Sharonne Hayes, director, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Mayo Clinic. “The idea is that we are treating diverse populations and each individual in them. The tendency is to treat populations as market segments – we are customizing care to the culture and then further to the individual.”

Cultural-competence training is key for healthcare providers, notes Clift. “We have already required all of our internal clinicians to complete cultural-competency courses. Training is around attitudes and how patients actually may have trust issues with providers,” she says.

Jimenez has a good example from WellPoint: Its Latino resource group, SOMOS, has been encouraging healthcare providers to emphasize family care as opposed to individual care. Latino parents, she says, will go out of their way to provide preventive care for their children but are far less inclined to do it for themselves. WellPoint is No. 34 in the DiversityInc Top 50.

The Affordable Care Act also requires hospitals to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals.  Hawkins notes that having a workforce representative of the new marketplace is a big plus for Lilly as it expands its clinical trials. “The patient population we serve is more likely to connect with customers from a sales standpoint,” says Hawkins.

Deep relationships with community organizations developed by companies that are diversity leaders is paying off in efforts to promote wellness and connect with the expanded patient base. Lilly has worked with organizations such as the National Council of La Raza and the Urban League on wellness programs in areas such as depression.

The end result for these companies is the diversity-management strategies that they have put in place are helping them negotiate this brave new world of healthcare accountability and expanded patient populations. Diversity management is critical to their very survival, they all say.

“Everyone is realizing how important diversity and inclusion is in the course of business,” says Health Care Service Corporation’s Clift.

–Barbara Frankel, with Robyn Heller Gerbush and Stacy Straczynski

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