Symposium 2025

Symposium Agenda

Listening, Learning, Leading: Transforming MS Care Through Patient Experience and Health Equity

Highlight Innovations in MS Care Delivery 

• Explore emerging models, technologies, and strategies that enhance the patient experience in multiple sclerosis (MS) care, including personalized treatment approaches, digital health tools, and multidisciplinary care coordination.

Address Barriers to Equitable Access

• Identify systemic, geographic, and socioeconomic challenges that limit access to MS care, and present actionable solutions to promote equity across diverse patient populations.

Empower Stakeholders to Drive Change

• Equip healthcare professionals, payers, and policy makers with insights and tools to advocate for and implement patient-centered, equitable MS care practices that improve outcomes and reduce disparities.

 

Pharmacoequity in Precision Medicine—Bridging Disparities for Managed Care
Overview of Landscape

Advancing Pharmacoequity by Addressing Access Barriers

• Explore how disparities in access to biomarker testing and precision therapies disproportionately affect underserved populations.   
• How can we advocate for expanded coverage, streamlined workflows, and dismantling payment and operational barriers—ensuring all patients, regardless of background or geography, have equitable access to life-changing precision medicine.

Aligning Coverage and Clinical Guidelines to Reduce Disparities

• Discuss the impact of misaligned payer policies and clinical guidelines, which can create gaps in access to essential diagnostics and treatments. 
• How can we continue to support collaboration between payers and clinicians to harmonize coverage decisions with evidence-based guidelines, directly supporting pharmacoequity and improved outcomes for marginalized groups?

Leveraging Data and Multidisciplinary Teams to Identify and Close Equity Gaps

• Encourage the use of real-world data, predictive modeling, and community-level mapping to identify disparities in medication access and outcomes.

Community at the Crossroads: Navigating Vaccine Hesitancy and Health Equity

 

Analyze the Root Causes and Issues of Local Vaccine Hesitancy and Disparities

• Examine cultural, socioeconomic, and systemic factors contributing to vaccine uncertainty and unequal access within specific communities.

Evaluate the Role of Community-Level Data in Identifying and Addressing Vaccine Gaps

• Understand how local data can be leveraged to uncover patterns of hesitancy and inform targeted interventions.

Develop Actionable Strategies to Improve Vaccine Confidence and Equity

• Explore evidence-based approaches and community engagement tactics that promote trust, increase uptake, and reduce disparities in vaccine access.

 

Seeing the Unseen: Harnessing AI and Data to Uncover Health Disparities

 

Recognize the Role of Data in Revealing Hidden Health Disparities

• Understand how disaggregated and community-level data can uncover inequities that are often overlooked in traditional reporting.

Evaluate Methods for Collecting and Interpreting Equity-Focused Health Data

• Explore best practices for gathering inclusive data and analyzing it through an equity lens to inform meaningful interventions.

Apply Data-Driven Strategies to Design and Implement Solutions That Advance Health Equity

•  Learn how to translate insights from disparity data into actionable policies, programs, and care models that reduce inequities.

Equity by Design: Integrating Health Disparities into AI Accreditation Standards

 

• Identify key health disparities that impact patient outcomes and explore how AI systems can either mitigate or exacerbate these inequities in healthcare delivery.
• Evaluate current and emerging AI accreditation standards with a focus on how they incorporate equity, bias mitigation, and inclusive data practices
• Apply strategies for integrating equity-focused criteria into AI accreditation and governance frameworks to promote fair and accountable use of AI in clinical and administrative settings.

 

From Data to Impact: Leveraging SDOH to Treat the Whole Patient in Community Contexts

 

• Describe the role of SDOH data in identifying community-level health needs and its impact on personalized care planning and population health outcomes.
• Evaluate strategies for integrating SDOH data into clinical workflows and decision-making, with a focus on improving equity and access to care.
• Apply community-based approaches to care delivery that leverage SDOH insights to address barriers and enhance patient engagement and health outcomes.