August 13, 2010 Newswires

Aetna Appoints Rawlins to New Role Addressing Disparities in Health Care

August 13, 2010 Friday

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Aetna announced that Wayne Rawlins has assumed a new position focused on addressing racial and ethnic disparities in health care.

In a release dated Aug. 10, the Company said Rawlins will report to the company's chief medical officer. He will serve as the lead clinician focused on identifying areas where disparities exist among minority members and spearheading programs that lead to more equitable health care.

"The appointment of Dr. Rawlins to this important new role as our national medical director of racial and ethnic equality initiatives will further enhance Aetna's ability to decrease the persistent challenges of disparities in health care," said Lonny Reisman, Aetna's chief medical officer. "Our goal is to ensure that our members receive high quality health care regardless of race or ethnicity. Having a senior level clinician devoted entirely to this effort will help us take many of our programs further as well as gain new insights from research that can lead to better health outcomes for minority populations."

Aetna captured race and ethnicity information voluntarily provided by its members and now has racial and ethnic data for more than six million currently active Aetna members. Aetna has implemented care delivery programs that are culturally oriented in areas such as maternal and child health and breast health.

"We have made progress but there are still significant advances to be made. I'm confident that Dr. Rawlins' leadership will help us pinpoint the best opportunities to drive positive change and make an impact on the health of our members," Reisman, said.

In his new role, Rawlins also will work closely with the Aetna Foundation, which has made racial and ethnic equity in health care one of its key priorities for 2010.

A published study in Population Health Management looked at disease management to better control blood pressure among African Americans, a racial group with a higher prevalence of hypertension and poorer cardiovascular and renal outcomes than white Americans. The study concluded that the addition of a DM program employing nurses with cultural competence training, as well as culturally sensitive materials, can improve patient compliance and reduce systolic blood pressure.

"Studies such as this provide Aetna with an opportunity to take the findings, adapt them as necessary, and expand them appropriately across our membership. If this type of research will ultimately help our minority members experience better health, then we clearly need to devote resources to this work. The recent blood pressure study is just one example of the kinds of initiatives that Dr. Rawlins will lead in his new role," Reisman said.

Rawlins recently was invited to serve as a member of the National Quality Forum's Cultural Competency Expert Panel. NQF is a public-private collaborative venture aimed at improving the quality of health care by standardizing the measurement and reporting of quality-related information and by otherwise promoting quality improvement.

Aetna is a diversified health care benefits company.

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August 13, 2010