Social Equity in Health Care: Policy, Access, and Digital Systems

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

This panel examines social equity in healthcare access and delivery, focusing on how policy design and system-level factors shape disparities across populations. While healthcare reforms and service innovations have expanded access to care, significant inequities persist, particularly for populations facing structural, economic, and digital barriers. The panel explores how these disparities are influenced by the interaction between institutional frameworks and emerging technologies.The panel addresses a central question: How do healthcare policy, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital systems jointly shape equitable access to care? In this context, AI and broader digital technologies are considered as key mechanisms that can either reduce or exacerbate inequities, depending on how they are implemented, governed, and embedded within healthcare and welfare systems.Bringing together interdisciplinary perspectives from health policy, digital welfare, and AI governance, the panel uses a combination of empirical analysis, policy evaluation, and mixed-methods research to examine multiple dimensions of access. One paper examines how AI-enabled triage and telehealth systems shape early access points to care, assessing how patient prioritization and digital intake processes influence utilization and outcomes across populations. A second paper analyzes telehealth medication abortion among adolescents, using mixed methods to evaluate how individuals navigate restrictive policy environments and rely on digital platforms to access care under legal, financial, and social constraints.A third paper provides large-scale empirical evidence on racial and demographic disparities in telehealth abortion use, drawing on electronic health record data and multinomial logit models to assess variation in access across populations. Findings suggest that while telehealth can reduce certain barriers, it is disproportionately utilized by more advantaged populations, highlighting persistent inequities across racial, linguistic, and socioeconomic groups. A fourth paper examines how institutional capacity and organizational knowledge systems shape responses to digital risks affecting adolescent mental health, using a longitudinal qualitative case study to assess how data-driven interventions influence access to support services.Across these contributions, a consistent finding emerges: while digital and AI-enabled systems can improve efficiency, coordination, and flexibility in access, their benefits are unevenly distributed. In some cases, these systems introduce new forms of exclusion, particularly for individuals with limited digital access, lower system navigation capacity, or constrained resources.By situating technology within broader healthcare and welfare systems, the panel emphasizes that outcomes are not determined by innovation alone, but by how systems are designed, implemented, and governed. The panel contributes to policy debates by identifying strategies to align healthcare reform and digital transformation with equity goals, highlighting governance mechanisms such as transparency, accountability, and inclusive system design to ensure equitable access to care.

Policy Area

• Social Equity and Race

Chair

• Christian Erik Weller, University of Massachusetts at Boston

Discussant

• Dania V. Francis, University of Massachusetts at Boston

Organizer

• Imen Ameur, Hult International Business School

Individual Presentations

• AI, Digital Welfare, and Equity in Healthcare Access - Presenting Author: Imen Ameur, Hult International Business School

• Telehealth Medication Abortion in Restrictive Policy Contexts - Presenting Author: Dana Johnson, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Racial and Demographic Trends in Telehealth Abortion Use in Minnesota Gestational Duration, 2021-2024 - Presenting Author: Asha Hassan, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Digital Risk, Institutional Capacity, and Equity in Adolescent Mental Health Access - Presenting Author: Michael J Ahn, The Blue Tree Foundation