Defining the Health Equity Officer Role: IHI Releases Guidance for Health Systems

New report includes actionable recommendations to support the hiring and long-term success of health equity officers

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) today released a report, Defining the Role of the Health Equity Officer, to guide and support health care executives on this evolving leadership position in health systems. The report defines the individual and collective competencies needed to be effective in the health equity officer (HEO) role, along with the critical institutional investments and accountability required to ensure its success.

“Transformation to create more equitable systems is the work of the whole health system — it is a collective responsibility,” said Kedar Mate, MD, President and CEO of IHI. “There are central players in this effort including the vital role of the health equity officer, and we have seen many variations of this position. This report looks carefully at how successful HEOs have done their work so we can all learn from them and emulate their success.”

Health equity officers have become more commonplace in health systems in recent years, tasked with embedding equity throughout their institutions to reduce inequities for patients and populations. IHI’s research on the HEO role and how it is currently framed and supported within health systems revealed tremendous variation across titles, responsibilities, reporting structure, and available resources, which can result in outsized scopes and intense pressure for those in the HEO role.

The new report from IHI — which builds on learnings from a related IHI rapid-cycle innovation project, as well as insights from an IHI-convened advisory group of HEOs from across the health ecosystem — defines six core aspects of the HEO position. It also expounds on three components necessary for success in the HEO role: core ways of being (values); key skills to cultivate; and conditions for success (organizational supports). These components, as well as critical elements within each of these components, comprise the related IHI Health Equity Leadership Framework, which is designed to support the dynamism and context of the HEO role.

Central to this report, the IHI Health Equity Leadership Framework also provides the foundation for IHI’s Leadership for Health Equity Professional Development Program. The program covers the competencies, approaches, and conditions for effective health equity leadership that are outlined in the new report and creates a community of participating leaders who share learnings and come together around common challenges.

“The role of a health equity officer is one of critical responsibility for system-wide equity that include impact and results,” said Camille Burnett, PhD, MPA, RN, IHI’s Vice President of Health Equity and faculty for the program. “These positions need support from their health systems to take the necessary concrete actions to reduce inequities which is in service to the organizational mission and the populations served. This report and program provide health equity leaders with support, resources, and tools to be successful in their role and to effect meaningful change.”

Defining the Role of the Health Equity Officer is freely accessible on ihi.org. The next 14-week Leadership for Health Equity Professional Development Program begins September 4, 2024. Additional information about CE credits, testimonials, and registration details can be found here.

About the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is an independent not-for-profit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. For more than 30 years, IHI has used improvement science to advance and sustain better outcomes in health and health systems across the world. IHI brings awareness of safety and quality to millions, catalyzes learning and the systematic improvement of care, develops solutions to previously intractable challenges, and mobilizes health systems, communities, regions, and nations to reduce harm and deaths. IHI collaborates with a growing community to spark bold, inventive ways to improve the health of individuals and populations. IHI generates optimism, harvests fresh ideas, and supports anyone, anywhere who wants to profoundly change health and health care for the better. Learn more at ihi.org.

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