Leveraging Ways of Working and Innovation Methodologies from the Technology Sector to Inform New Approaches to Health Equity Initiatives

OBJECTIVES: Current development and deployment of interventions to improve population health and overcome health inequities have had limited impact. Different approaches are needed to more impactfully overcome poor health outcomes, gaps in access to care, social determinants, and challenges in multistakeholder collaboration. Healthcare stakeholders can benefit from exploring and adopting leading practices from the technology sector to inform equity-oriented health practice. Analysis of innovative technology-centric processes and ways of working that leverage data and iterative decision-making to address public health challenges provide a framework to inform practice change.

METHODS: A diverse set of project and process methodologies from the technology sector were reviewed, including design thinking, artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive computing, and organizational agility. We then assessed potential implications for and application to health equity-oriented practice and where challenges to and opportunities for greater uptake may exist.

RESULTS: Several approaches emerge from the technology sector that can positively impact health practice, including putting data and analytics at the center of programs to create the critical feedback necessary to rapidly understand challenges and target interventions. Additionally, systems can be built to use data driven approaches to adapt practices quickly and responsively to evolving population health challenges. Benefits include the ability to change aspects of an intervention based on a rapid data feedback loop. Finally, there is opportunity for health stakeholders to leverage more agile, iterative, and technology-centric ways of working related to the execution of programs, assessments, and interventions.

CONCLUSIONS: Ways of working that are standard in the technology sector coupled with analytic platforms and new AI-powered tools can be adapted to accelerate the impact of population health and health equity-oriented programs. To change behaviors and realize the full potential, stakeholders will have to overcome capability, technology, and trust challenges by building workforce capacity, skills, and experience in these new ways of working.