Medical societies offer physicians and trainees a platform for support and advocacy and play a crucial role in advancing health equity. The Health Equity in Organized Medicine survey, first launched in 2023, collects vital information on the equity-related actions and priorities of state/territorial and specialty medical associations that comprise the American Medical Association (AMA) Federation of Medicine.

Intended for use by the Federation and broader organized medicine, this survey seeks to understand the current state of organized medicine’s efforts in advancing health equity and developing a shared understanding of equity initiatives across states and specialties.

2024 Survey Results

The 2024 Health Equity in Organized Medicine survey revealed that even in an increasingly complex political landscape and concerted efforts to discredit diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, there is a continued—and even strengthened—activity around equity and inclusion initiatives in many sectors.1-4

For example, the 2024 survey found that 74.1% of organizations have taken at least one action to make equity a strategic priority.

When comparing efforts and progress made from 2023 to 2024 among organizations who completed both Health Equity in Organized Medicine surveys, 51.9% reported completing or sustaining the majority of their actions and no organizations reported stopping or canceling the effort they had underway in 2023.

5 Steps for Advancing Health Equity in Organized Medicine

The Health Equity in Organized Medicine survey is organized in alignment with five steps for advancing equity through a framework created by Rise to Health: A National Coalition for Equity in Health Care. These steps include:

Step 1: Get grounded in history and your local context: Actions organizations are taking to identify policies and practices that intentionally or unintentionally disadvantage historically marginalized groups and understand their local context.

Step 2: Identify opportunities for improvement: Actions taken to gather data to identify and understand inequities within an organization and its membership.

Step 3: Make equity a strategic priority: Actions taken to embed equity within responding organizations.

Step 4: Take initiative: Actions taken to address past and ongoing harms within an organization and its community.

Step 5: Align, invest and advocate for thriving communities: Organizational progress towards action aligning, investing, and advocating for the communities being served.

Read the full article about the Health Equity in Organized Medicine survey at American Medical Association.