Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Advancing Health Equity Through Community Driven Care at Cone Health with Olu Jegede, MD

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Advancing Health Equity Through Community Driven Care at Cone Health with Olu Jegede, MD · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  This is where health insurance leadership comes together.
• 0:05
  Becker's fourth annual spring payer issues roundtable brings
• 0:08
  together over 400 payer and health plan executives
• 0:12
  and more than 100 speakers to Chicago April.
• 0:16
  This year's event includes keynote conversations with the
• 0:19
  industry's top leaders and former president George W.
• 0:23
  Bush. For the full agenda and event details,
• 0:25
  visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  and click on the events tab in the
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  upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you
• 0:31
  here in Chicago.
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  Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare
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  Podcast.
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  I'm Mackenzie Bean, associate vice president and managing
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  editor of Becker's Hospital Review.
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  Today, I'm so thrilled to be joined by
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  doctor
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  Olujegadeh,
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  who is the senior vice president and chief
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  health equity and community impact officer
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  of Cone Health.
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  Doctor Jagadeh, thank you so much for joining
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  us on the podcast. How are you doing?
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  I am doing well. Thank you for having
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  me.
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  It's such a pleasure to have you on
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  the podcast.
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  I was hoping we could kick off the
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  discussion by having you share a little bit
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  more about yourself, your career background,
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  and then Cone Health.
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  Thank you,
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  very much.
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  My name is Olu Jegade,
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  and I am a senior vice president
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  and the chief health equity and community impact
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  officer at Cone Health.
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  I'm a physician by trade, and I see
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  patients who have sickle cell disease,
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  as part of my role at Cone Health.
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  So a little bit about Cone Health.
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  Cone Health is a large
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  integrated
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  nonprofit
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  health system
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  serving communities
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  across North Carolina
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  with more than 150
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  care locations,
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  including five hospitals,
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  six ambulatory
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  care centers,
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  three outpatient
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  surgery centers,
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  10 urgent care centers, and over 120
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  physician practices.
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  We are supported by more than 13,000
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  team members
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  and about 1,650
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  physicians on our medical staff.
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  My role here at Cone
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  sits at the intersection
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  of strategy,
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  care delivery, and community.
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  I am responsible for driving our system
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  wide health equity strategy,
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  working with clinical and operational leaders to eliminate
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  disparities,
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  to improve outcomes,
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  and embed health equity
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  into how we design our policies,
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  how we deliver our care,
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  and how we partner
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  with our communities
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  and the community based organizations.
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  A major part of this work is leading
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  our catch five in five initiative,
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  which is an ambitious
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  initiative
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  that is focused
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  on our most at risk populations.
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  And the goal here is so simple
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  but very bold,
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  is to increase life expectancy
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  by five years
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  in five years in those targeted ZIP codes
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  that are impacted by lower life expectancy
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  across our market.
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  Wow. That truly is such a
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  ambitious but important initiative, and I'm sure we're
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  gonna go a little bit deeper into that.
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  And I love what you said about your
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  role really being at the intersection
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  past year,
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  what's one initiative that has really stood out
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  to you,
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  and what were the result?
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  Thank you. In the past couple of years,
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  we have
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  started this important
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  initiative
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  that I called
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  CATCH five and five.
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  The CATCH stand
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  stands for collaborative
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  actions toward community health
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  to improve life expectancy by five years and
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  five years.
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  We launched this, towards the 2023
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  as a deeply
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  community driven effort.
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  So rather than designing
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  solutions in isolation,
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  we met people where they are, literally
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  and figuratively.
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  The work includes
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  community based screenings for medical
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  and nonmedical
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  drivers of health,
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  mental health access,
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  transportation solutions, and nutritional support,
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  all tailored to the specific needs
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  of neighborhoods experiencing the greatest disparities.
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  What's been powerful about this is that the
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  results are tangible
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  and measurable.
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  We've seen
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  double digit reductions in non emergent
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  emergency visits
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  and meaningful decreases in inpatient admissions and readmissions
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  in our targeted population.
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  That
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  tells us
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  that people are assessing the right care at
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  the right time
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  and earlier.
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  So before complications
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  develop, we are seeing that patient now have
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  access to care that they did not have
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  prior to this initiative.
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  Another initiative that I'm really particularly proud about,
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  is our blood pressure equity program.
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  As you all know, hypertension is a major
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  driver
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  of cardiovascular
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  disease, and disparities in the control of blood
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  pressure
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  remains very significant
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  among our population.
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  So through intentional
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  design and strong partnerships
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  with our care teams across our health system,
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  we improved blood pressure control among blood patient
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  population
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  from sixty four point nine percent
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  to seventy point five percent.
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  Across all patients, however, we improve
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  control rate from sixty nine point eight percent
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  to seventy one point seven percent.
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  This just tells me that when you do
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  health equity work,
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  everyone
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  wins.
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  One of the most striking successes
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  came through our community based pharmacist engagement.
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  In the subset of the patients that were
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  assigned to this
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  incredible
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  pharmacy team,
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  the blood pressure control
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  improved from single digits
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  around seven percent
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  to sixty three percent.
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  That reinforced something we strongly believe,
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  in our system that when we expand our
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  care team and we leverage trusted community partners,
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  we can make changes dramatically
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  in our health outcomes.
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  This work, and that's will be one of
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  the reason why I'm so proud about this,
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  was recognized
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  nationally
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  when Cohealth received the 2025
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  Bernard
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  g Tysin award
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  for the pursuit of health care equity from
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  the joint commission
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  and Kaiser Permanente.
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  This is an honor and a validation
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  that we are headed the right direction
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  in our health equity journey.
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  Such an honor and a validation
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  indeed, as you said, with some really significant
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  and meaningful results as you just shared across
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  life expectancy,
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  blood pressure equity, and of course, blood pressure
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  control with your pharmacy team.
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  In the spirit of keeping that momentum going,
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  what are your big priorities
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  for the year, and how are you thinking
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  about some of the headways
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  that are, facing health systems in 2026?
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  Yeah. As we look,
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  toward 2026,
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  our priorities are increasingly
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  focused on the social drivers of health
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  or now called nonmedical drivers of health, such
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  as
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  housing stability,
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  food access,
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  transportation,
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  and financial mobility.
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  So as we all know, these factors
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  powerfully shape
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  health outcomes, and we are committed to addressing
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  them in a systematic
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  way.
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  So one of our biggest next steps as
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  a system
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  is making the screening of these social drivers
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  a true north metric
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  for the organization.
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  That means screening every patient
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  across every setting
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  so we can proactively
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  identify the barriers
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  that impact health and health outcome
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  outcome
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  and connect people to the right resources.
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  We are also focused on scaling successful programs
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  like our catch five in five initiatives
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  and strengthening our transitional
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  care models
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  to ensure that all patients
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  are seen and none falls through the cracks
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  as they move between care settings.
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  At the same time, we are working to
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  institutionalize
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  health equity.
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  We that includes
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  embedding health equity into clinician education,
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  into our system policies,
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  into our quality metrics, and leadership decision making.
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  The goal is to make health equity part
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  of our work, not a separate initiative that
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  we talk about.
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  I think the biggest,
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  headwind
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  in 2026
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  and beyond without the question
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  is financial
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  sustainability.
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  So like many health systems,
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  we are navigating reimbursement pressures,
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  and the challenge is to ensure
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  that health equity investments
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  are not seen as optional add ons, but
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  as essential drivers of quality,
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  value, and long term outcomes.
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  Absolutely.
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  On that note of institutionalizing
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  health equity,
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  you know, you mentioned embedding into clinician education
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  quality metrics.
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  I'm curious how how does culture really play
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  a role into that?
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  Right? If you have sort of,
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  it embedded on the metrics side, how do
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  you really, like, help drive that forward as
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  a leadership
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  team? As a leadership team, I think one
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  of the very
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  important work around culture
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  is to improve training on implicit bias and
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  cultural humility,
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  and that allows
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  our providers and all clinicians
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  to see patients from their standpoint.
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  So we're now treating everyone equally, but we
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  are treating everyone equitably,
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  giving each and individual patients what they need
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  to remain as healthy as possible.
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  That training can be so important. I I
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  appreciate you sharing that. You also mentioned efforts
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  to scale the five and five initiative this
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  year. Can you share any more details about
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  what's to come there?
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  Yeah. We're providing more access to care in
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  our communities,
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  and one of such an example
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  is,
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  our recent opening of Resurgent,
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  which is a care access point in partnership
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  with North Carolina
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  A and T University,
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  that
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  will provide access to urgent care,
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  primary care, and women health care.
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  And this is right there in the heart
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  of this of the communities
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  that need the care the most.
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  This is the same communities that we have
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  identified
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  through our community health need assessment
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  as having,
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  barriers to accessing care
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  and also being impacted by lower life expectancy
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  up to 15 when it compares to other
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  ZIP codes that are not even
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  that within five miles radius,
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  of of of these ZIP codes. So we
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  are providing more access care. We are improving
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  our mobile health reach.
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  We are continuing
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  the the community based screening
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  and providing place based intervention
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  for those patients that need the care the
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  most.
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  I imagine that, a screening of nonmedical drivers
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  of health across every patient in every setting
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  will really give the system a lot more
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  visibility for further action as well.
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  Absolutely.
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  Well, you've laid out a lot of
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  important efforts that you'll be focusing on over
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  the coming year. I'm curious. What do you
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  think will be the hardest thing that you'll
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  have to do over the next twelve months?
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  The hardest thing in the coming year will
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  be sustainability.
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  I just have to be very honest about
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  that. Making sure that long term health equity
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  initiatives
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  have the financial backing,
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  the infrastructure, and the leadership support
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  to endure beyond the current phases.
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  And at the same time, we are navigating
• 13:32
  constant change.
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  In many ways, it's like we are building
• 13:36
  the plane as we fly it.
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  The community needs evolve,
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  policy landscapes
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  change and shift,
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  and health care economics are anything but stable.
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  So the challenge is staying responsive in the
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  moment
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  while remaining disciplined about long term strategy
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  and impact.
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  Really that balance between staying responsive and flexible,
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  but then disciplined
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  in terms of your true north and strategy
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  there.
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  No small task for a leader to manage.
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  Oh, no. Well, I think I'd love to
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  shift gears a bit to end on away
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  from perhaps some of the challenges to opportunities.
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  Where do you see the biggest opportunities
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  for organizational growth or improvement,
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  in terms of health equity?
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  I see I see some of our biggest
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  growth opportunities
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  in value based care.
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  At Cone Health, we define value based care
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  as providing
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  convenient,
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  personalized
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  care that improves health,
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  prevents illness, and lowers costs.
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  It's grounded in evidence based practice,
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  strong care teams, and seamless care coordination across
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  our system.
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  For us at Cone Health,
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  value means caring for patients
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  at the right time, in the right place,
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  at the right cost,
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  preventing those avoidable
• 15:10
  emergency department visits and hospital admissions and readmissions,
• 15:15
  and helping people stay healthier
• 15:17
  in their homes and in their communities.
• 15:21
  Our broader vision is to be a proven
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  case study
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  that there is value
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  in equity driven care,
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  creating longer,
• 15:31
  healthier,
• 15:32
  and more vibrant lives for everyone
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  that we serve.
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  We also see powerful opportunities
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  in cross sector partnerships.
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  This is working alongside our schools,
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  our employers,
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  the community, our faith based organizations,
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  and local governments.
• 15:53
  You know, health doesn't start in hospitals,
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  and when all these
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  organizations come together,
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  including the health system,
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  we are strongest.
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  And when we move together, we make bigger
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  impact.
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  Finally, I think, innovation in care delivery remains
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  key.
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  Expanding transitional care programs,
• 16:17
  engaging pharmacists and community health workers,
• 16:21
  leveraging digital outreach,
• 16:24
  deploying mobile health solutions
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  allow us to meet people where they are,
• 16:30
  especially those who have historically been
• 16:33
  underserved.
• 16:34
  I always say this, your home address
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  or ZIP code should not determine how long
• 16:40
  or how well you live, And that is
• 16:42
  what Cone is doing in our communities.
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  That is where we have the most opportunities.
• 16:48
  Wonderful. And I, I'm excited to continue following
• 16:51
  Cone's health
• 16:53
  work
• 16:54
  in this area. I think you're already making
• 16:56
  such
• 16:57
  a a meaningful impact on your community, and
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  it's only gonna grow from here. So, doctor
• 17:01
  Jagadeh, thank you so much, for joining us
• 17:03
  on the podcast today and sharing your insights.
• 17:06
  We so appreciate it. Thank you. Appreciate your
• 17:09
  time.