Podcast

Let’s talk about health equity and quality of care since they are two sides of the same coin.

In this episode, Theresa Demeter, Managing Director at Tegria, talks about how healthcare should approach technology solutions that address equity by working directly with some communities. As great as it is for health equity and “techquity” to be the buzzwords at the HLTH conference, Theresa believes it’s essential to acknowledge that technology can leave certain groups behind if companies don’t think of them when devising solutions. She shares Tegria’s experience of bringing technology and education to a remote southeast Alaskan community that might need action plans to access care in case of emergencies. Theresa also explains how they approach these communities through health advocates and partnerships with other industries.

Tune in to learn more about Tegria’s techquity work!

About Theresa Demeter:

Theresa Demeter is an entrepreneurial executive administrator with 30 years of healthcare performance and operational experience. In her role as a Managing Director at Tegria, she brings her passion for conceptualizing and implementing innovative solutions that drive quality and performance improvement to optimize patient outcomes. Theresa developed Tegria’s offering that helps healthcare organizations prioritize and operationalize their health equity strategy and mitigate the harmful effects of implicit bias through macro-simulation.

Prior to joining Tegria, Theresa drove the formation and expansion of InSytu, a national leader in clinical process improvement consulting powered by macro-simulation. She also served as the Director of Women and Infants Outpatient Services at Swedish Health Services in Seattle.

Theresa earned a master’s degree in healthcare administration from the University of Washington and is a certified childbirth and parenting educator and doula.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Technology can depend significantly on having access to a high-quality broadband service, something that some people still don’t have daily.
• Healthcare companies should always devise their health tech solutions thinking of access issues for people in rural settings and income issues for people in urban environments.
• Techquity is the intentional and thoughtful development of healthcare-related technology without excluding anybody.
• On some occasions, people have better health outcomes when they can stay within their community rather than moving away from them.
• Health advocates are people who build trust by bridging health companies with communities.
• Healthcare has to make partnerships to address issues that affect a patient’s health, like their social determinants.

Resources:

• Connect and follow Theresa Demeter on LinkedIn
• Follow Tegria on LinkedIn 
• Discover the Tegria Website
• Listen to Theresa’s previous interview from ViVE here!
• Visit the HLTH Foundation Website!
• Check out Tegria’s pictures of their trip to Alaska here!