SCAN Health Plan Reports Decline in COVID-19 Vaccine Disparities

SCAN Health Plan has announced a significant decrease in coronavirus vaccine disparities.

“SCAN is committed to eliminating the troubling disparities in the health care system that disproportionately impact specific populations,” said Sharon Jhawar, chief pharmacy officer of SCAN Health Plan. 

“The numbers indicate that through our efforts, we have been able to break with historic patterns and mitigate some of the pandemic’s devastating impact on underserved populations in order to achieve broad population immunity.”

The health plan reported that vaccination gaps between minority populations and white members dropped significantly between February 2021 and July 31, 2021. 

Black SCAN Health Plan members were 17 percent less likely to have received the vaccine than their White counterparts in February 2021. However, the gap shrank over the next five months to a six percent difference.

The vaccination gap between Latinx SCAN Health Plan members and White SCAN Health Plan members likewise diminished. In February 2021, the vaccination gap between these two populations of beneficiaries was 11 percent. By July 2021, the gap declined to four percent.

The payer saw reductions in income disparities as well. At the beginning of the data collection timeframe, 15 percent more low-income members had not been vaccinated compared to middle- and high-income members. However, at the end of the timeframe this gap shrank to eight percent.

Zip code is another indicator of wealth and the potential prevalence of social determinants of health barriers. SCAN Health Plan measured disparities between individuals of various zip codes to identify areas for improvement based on each area’s community need index. A higher community need index indicates a higher prevalence of social determinants of health.

The SCAN Health Plan identified that the percentage of members in zip codes with high community needs index scores were 16 percent more likely to be unvaccinated in February 2021. Five months later, however, the likelihood had decreased to 8 percent.

SCAN Health Plan shared five strategies that helped the payer decrease its care disparities.

“When you look at these initiatives and take them as a whole, it’s clear that SCAN was successful in reducing disparities because we built trust within our focused outreach,” said Romilla Batra, MD, chief medical officer at SCAN Health Plan.

First, the payer ensured that its outreach methods were culturally appropriate for the target populations. SCAN Health Plan called its members in minority communities to talk about the coronavirus vaccine.

Second, SCAN Health Plan conducted a survey of caregivers and members in Black and Spanish-speaking communities to assess what the prevailing opinions were about the coronavirus vaccine.

Third, the payer started to administer vaccines through home healthcare. Other payers have also taken this approach to ensure that homebound members have access to the coronavirus vaccine.

Fourth, SCAN Health Plan initiated a COVID Vaccine Line—a phone line that helped set up vaccination appointments for members. SCAN Health Plan staff also answered questions related to the coronavirus vaccine through this platform.

Finally, the payer developed a coronavirus vaccination dashboard. The platform helped target outreach efforts by compiling data regarding which members had received the coronavirus vaccine.

Payers have a pivotal role to play in connecting seniors with coronavirus vaccines, specifically in the effort to reduce racial disparities in coronavirus vaccination.

As of May 2021, the average senior vaccination rate at the county level was 68.9 percent, according to Kaiser Family Foundation.

CMS released preliminary data on Medicare beneficiary coronavirus vaccine uptake. Approximately half of all senior respondents received their vaccination in February 2021, according to the survey. However, 36 percent of the respondents still had not received a dose of the vaccine.