Unite Us and the Business of Health Equity

By Kevin Schulman, Megan Eluhu
2023 | Case No. SM368 | Length 26 pgs.

Health equity became a hot topic during the pandemic, when health care disparities and higher mortality rates for Black and Latino patients became front-page news. New discussions about the structural determinants of health in the United States looked deeply at the impact of racial disparities and racism on health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment on health outcomes.

The Unite Us technology platform was devoted to helping identify, deliver, and pay for services that affected whole-person health, with the goal of screening at-risk individuals for referrals to broader assistance from government services and community-based organizations. Could Unite Us and its partners build the coordinated care networks to provide whole-person health to populations that had long borne the brunt of racial disparities—and reduce health care costs?

Learning Objective

Students will use the case study to discuss how health and health care come together under the structural determinants of health (SDOH) model, and think about the potential for technology platforms to address longstanding challenges to equitable health care and health outcomes.
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