Addressing Health Inequity
Pereste was formed in early 2023, sparked by an excitement for AI and propelled by my personal mission of meaningfully improving the healthcare system. Health equity is the principle underlying a commitment to reduce—and, ultimately, eliminate—disparities in health and in its determinants, such as social, economic, and environmental factors.
Drivers of Health Inequity
Socioeconomic Factors: Socioeconomic status is one of the most powerful predictors of health outcomes. People with lower incomes and education levels are more likely to experience health disparities.
Cultural and Linguistic Barriers: Cultural and linguistic differences can create barriers to healthcare. For example, patients who don't speak English as their first language may have difficulty communicating with their healthcare providers.
Discrimination and Bias: Discrimination and bias in healthcare can lead to disparities in health outcomes. This includes both overt discrimination and unconscious bias.
Policy and Legislation: Policies and legislation can either promote health equity or exacerbate health disparities. For example, policies that limit access to healthcare or social services can contribute to health disparities.
Addressing these Issues
At Pereste, our mission is to bridge the gap in health equity by democratizing access to crucial healthcare information. We believe that every individual, regardless of their language or educational background, has the right to fully understand their health status and make informed decisions about their care.
Health equity is not just about ensuring everyone has access to healthcare services—it's also about ensuring everyone has access to healthcare information. This is where we see a significant gap in the current healthcare system. Discharge summaries, which contain vital information about a patient's hospital stay and ongoing care needs, are often written in complex medical jargon that many patients struggle to understand. This lack of understanding can lead to poor health outcomes, including higher rates of readmission.
Our product
To address this issue, we're leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to reinvent the discharge summary. Our AI-driven platform generates discharge summaries that are tailored to each patient's language and complexity levels. This means that every patient, whether they're a native English speaker or not, whether they have a high school education or a PhD, will receive a discharge summary that they can understand.
By making discharge summaries more accessible, we're empowering patients with the knowledge they need to manage their health. This includes understanding their diagnosis, knowing what medications they need to take, and recognizing when they need to seek further medical attention.
In essence, we're democratizing healthcare information. We're breaking down the barriers that prevent people from understanding their own health records, and in doing so, we're promoting health equity. We envision a future where every patient leaves the hospital with a clear understanding of their health status and care plan—a future where health equity is a reality, not just an ideal.
At Pereste, we're not just using AI to improve healthcare—we're using it to make healthcare more equitable. And we invite you to join us on this transformative journey.
-Parker
16 May, 2023