The majority of healthcare providers and payers are not ready to meet shifting health equity regulatory requirements, according to Ernst & Young's latest report. [Beckers Hospital Review]

To compile its "2024 Health Equity Outlook," the accounting firm surveyed 500 health equity leaders across stakeholder industries: providers, payers, life sciences, government, and nonprofit/community organizations. The respondent pool included 64 health systems, 14 physician groups, 11 hospitals, eight academic medical centers and three federally qualified health centers. Nearly 40% of respondents were directors, department leads or the equivalent, while 29% were C-suite executives and 28% were vice presidents. 

Most provider and payer respondents indicated that as of today, they could not meet health equity-related regulatory requirements introduced by CMS, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, The Joint Commission and the FDA last year. The new guidelines are multifaceted — asking hospitals to update various processes from data analytics to the C-suite — and the majority of providers say those upgrades are still a work in progress. 

The three new requirements that the most providers are able to meet today: improved language access (48% can meet this), a designated health equity executive leader (48%) and improved healthcare access (47%). However, the majority of providers are still developing or taking action on a defined plan to ensure future readiness — while a small percentage, 6% or less, report that they have no plan to meet each metric. 

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