BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee recently released its first-ever Health Equity Report, a six-topic review of health disparities aimed at highlighting issues and informing ways to improve care delivery and outcomes.
The report analyzed data from publicly available sources as well as BlueCross members who get health coverage through their jobs/independently, or through the state Medicaid plan. It shares information on how race and other social factors affect health outcomes.
The areas researched include behavioral health, cancer, child and adolescent well-care, chronic condition management (high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma), COVID-19 and maternal health.
The report reveals alarming key state-level statistics concerning Tennessee’s Black population, including:
- Black patients were 2.5x more likely to have a pregnancy-related death than White patients.
- In Tennessee, Black adults are 40% more likely to have high blood pressure and less likely to have it under control than White adults.
- Black women have higher breast cancer mortality rates than White women in Tennessee, which may be in part due to late stage diagnoses when treatment is more difficult.
- Black children are less likely to have their well-child visits by 30 months, and the preventive care gap widens through adolescence.
Dr. Andrea Willis, chief medical officer at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, said the report findings will inform collaboration with health providers to advance outcomes for diverse communities across the state.
“We wanted to get a better picture of the health issues and barriers to care faced by our members and Tennesseans as a whole, so that we could more effectively partner with health care providers to address those issues,” Dr. Willis explained. “Understanding this data helps support progress that will ultimately deliver better health for everyone, regardless of their background.”
Within BlueCross, Dr. Willis has served as medical director, advising on care structures for many successful programs, including the CHOICES Long-Term Services and Support program for the state’s Medicaid population, and CoverTennessee.
Before joining BlueCross, she served the state of Tennessee as director of CoverKids, helped develop Tennessee’s federally approved State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and served as deputy commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Health.
Dr. Willis is a fellow with the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the Tennessee Medical Association. She earned a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and a Doctor of Medicine from Georgetown University School of Medicine.