Advancing health care equity through a rigorous system of equity indicators

Promoting health care equity is both important and challenging. Clearly, to promote equity and to monitor progress, there is a vital need for good measures of equity.

In this powerful episode of Israel Healthcare Highlights, Bruce Rosen speaks about equity measurement with Professor Rachel Wilf-Miron of Tel Aviv University and the Gertner Institute. Professor Wilf-Miron is a pediatrician, public health expert, and one of Israel’s foremost champions of health equity.

With decades of experience in healthcare leadership, Prof. Wilf-Miron shares her groundbreaking work to reduce disparities in access, quality, and outcomes across Israel’s diverse population. From her early efforts at Maccabi Healthcare Services to her national leadership on wait time measurement and equity indicators, Prof. Wilf-Miron has helped transform how Israel measures and addresses inequality in healthcare. She discusses the stark gaps in services—such as mammography rates among Arab women and long wait times in peripheral regions—and how data-driven strategies are being used to close them.

She also unveils Israel’s first national set of health equity indicators, developed through a rigorous, inclusive process involving experts and public representatives. These indicators—ranging from infant mortality to access to psychotherapy—are now being used by the Ministry of Health to guide policy and resource allocation.

Whether you're a health professional, policymaker, or advocate for social justice, this conversation offers deep insights into how a health system can strive toward fairness and inclusion.