In the relationship between doctor and patient, trust is paramount. Unfortunately, minorities often do not seek out medical care until it is too late. Lack of insurance, pride, fear, and denial can present huge barriers. Underlying these misgivings are the longstanding cultural and racial biases which have plagued the medical field, not just in the United States, but amongst ethnic minorities worldwide. UCLA Health, the #1 Healthcare provider in California and #3 in the United States, created a website catering to populations residing in East Asia.
Initially launched in Mandarin to target patients in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan seeking out advanced care from UCLA Health Center, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic within the United States led researchers to discover opportunity in a new diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) initiative. UCLA Health found that 55% of their website traffic actually came from the AAPI community within the United States.
Some of the largest Chinese, Korean, and Japanese-American communities in the country call Los Angeles ‘home.’ How could UCLA have missed such an opportunity to reach the thriving Asian American communities residing in their own backyard? This prompted a rapid concerted effort to include this newly discovered, underserved community. UCLA Health immediately launched a DEI initiative to service ethnic populations in Los Angeles. They broadened their linguistic approach as a way of appealing to the wide swaths of Mandarin and Arabic speakers that inhabit Los Angeles.
Did you know that the AAPI population is the ethnic group most likely to be insured, yet least likely to seek mental and simple primary care? Research has shown repeatedly that this is due to cultural and language barriers. Arabic speakers, regardless of ethnicity, were another group who did not seek care as frequently, likely due to the same linguistic barriers. UCLA took these findings in regard to local Arabic-speaking populations and launched an international services site for the Gulf Cooperation Council. On this website, communities can learn about dominant health care challenges, the latest technologies, and the highly skilled doctors that provide their services at their institution. This has prompted UCLA Health to start a multi-year program to build websites that address all the major ethnic populations in Los Angeles, building on their DEI promise of serving the underserved and providing accessible healthcare services to all.
UCLA Health’s inclusion initiative has resulted in a marked visitor increase; that is, 390,576 visits, 650,579 page views, and 460,247 sessions, with an average bounce rate of 22.02%. In 2021 their AAPI site addressed 25% of the entire Chinese American population in the US. This site has been in such sought-after demand that UCLA Health experienced a 100% increase in patient booking confirmations. UCLA Health has truly become a key player when it comes to diversity and equity in healthcare.
