Overcoming Access Challenges in Healthcare
What does “access” in healthcare really mean?
For decades, access has been measured by traditional markers: availability of providers, proximity to care, wait times and insurance coverage. While these remain important, this definition no longer captures the full reality of what patients, and healthcare organizations themselves, truly need.
In a recent session, Overcoming Access Challenges in Healthcare, Gemma Lowery challenged participants to expand the concept of access. Instead of focusing solely outward, she asked leaders to turn the question inward: Who within our own teams is included in problem-solving, and who is left out?
By rethinking access in this way, healthcare leaders can spark deeper inclusion, stronger collaboration, and more sustainable change.
Reimagining A.C.C.E.S.S.
Lowery introduced a fresh framework for reimagining access, with each letter in A.C.C.E.S.S. representing a call to action:
- A – Adapt Pathways
Welcome unconventional approaches such as student collaborations, hackathons, start-up partnerships or internal innovation challenges. Innovation thrives when we open doors to new voices.
- C – Choose Partnerships
Prioritize deep, long-term relationships over transactional vendor arrangements. True transformation requires building bridges for the future, not quick fixes for today.
- C – Champion Equity
Ensure that outcomes serve communities equitably, with inclusion built into every initiative rather than treated as an afterthought.
- E – Expect the Unexpected
Shift from reactive firefighting to proactive planning, deliberately disrupting old habits with clearer definitions, criteria and diverse stakeholder engagement.
- S – Study Beyond Healthcare
Look to consumer expectations and cross-industry trends for inspiration. Innovation often comes from borrowing ideas across sectors.
- S – Stand Firm, Stay Flexible
Hold to your organization’s core business needs, but remain agile enough to pivot and redefine success in ways that go beyond financial performance.
A Crossroads for Healthcare
The session closed with a stark but hopeful message: healthcare stands at a crossroads. The industry faces daunting challenges, rising costs, inequities, and operational strain, but also unprecedented opportunities for transformation.
By reimagining access not just as a logistical problem but as a cultural and strategic opportunity, leaders can mend broken systems, empower teams, and deliver more inclusive, innovative solutions.
Access, redefined in this way, is no longer just about getting patients in the door. It’s about ensuring healthcare organizations themselves remain open to new ideas, new partnerships, and new possibilities.
The question for leaders is no longer “Do our patients have access?” but rather, “Are we creating access to the solutions that will define the future of care?”
