The impact of inequity is visible across the country:
Behind these numbers are patients with unmanaged conditions, preventable hospitalizations, and delayed diagnoses. The financial toll is huge, but the long-term damage to trust is just as serious.
Equity is not just about whether a clinic exists in a neighborhood. It is about whether patients feel seen, understood, and supported once they walk through the door.
When patients face barriers such as long travel times, unclear communication, or cultural disconnects, many do not come back.
They postpone appointments until problems become urgent. They switch providers when they do not feel heard. And they often share those negative experiences with their communities, reinforcing a cycle of distrust—where patients disengage, their voices go unheard, and the system continues to overlook their needs.
For healthcare leaders, the costs of ignoring equity are not hypothetical:
Equity failures damage credibility, hinder institutional growth, and limit long-term sustainability.
Equity gaps are often invisible until you ask the right questions. Market research helps leaders see where patients are falling through the cracks and why.
It provides clarity on:
By surfacing these insights, market research equips leaders to redesign care around real patient needs, not assumptions. It also helps avoid blanket strategies that overlook critical differences between groups.
To address these gaps, MDRG recommends a mixed-method approach that combines:
We often layer in specialized studies like our Healthcare Experience (HX) Index, Customer Insights Assessments, and equity-informed Brand Health Tracking to understand where trust breaks down, where access stalls, and how different patient groups perceive your organization. Journey mapping and barrier identification further clarify where patients drop off and why they leave.
This approach goes beyond assumptions to reveal the emotional and practical forces shaping care decisions, equipping healthcare leaders to act with clarity and confidence.
Health equity is not a box to check, but rather a measure of how well healthcare works. Systems that prioritize listening to patients, addressing barriers, and committing to equity as a core priority will be stronger, more resilient, and more trusted in the long run.