Equum Medical’s Commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility

A movement is growing in the corporate world to produce written pledges to be good stewards when it comes to environmental, social justice and governance issues, known as ESGs. Though we are not a manufacturer or a company with a large built environment, we are especially committed to carrying out the spirit of this effort. Our work with rural, critical access and inner-city hospitals reflects our commitment to reducing the health inequities that make where you live and who you are a determinant of whether you can get the care you need.

Mission

To deliver world-class, telehealth-enabled clinical services that help hospitals ensure equal access to the highest-quality care for every patient.

Values

Though we are a for-profit company, we measure ourselves by how well we serve hospitals, their staffs and communities. We seek cost-efficiencies, better rural and inner-city access to care, shorter waiting times, fewer missed appointments and higher patient satisfaction.

Social responsibility

Equum gives back and will keep doing so. Recently we funded research work on diversity and innovation in care equity. We encourage our staff to volunteer for or donate to organizations helping those in need.

Culture

All of our physicians and nurses have vast experience working in hospitals; now they find clinical joy in using their knowledge and skills to help patients across many hospitals.

Equity

We are committed to being an inclusive company. We know organizations with diverse leadership and staff perform better financially1. We believe that in order to serve disadvantaged communities, we need to have staff with lived experience of the challenges faced by this patient cohort.

Environmental impact

We are a step ahead when it comes to our carbon footprint. Providing virtual care to patients where they live and work eliminates the need for both doctor and patient to drive to appointments.

The U.S. health sector is responsible for an estimated 10% of annual carbon emissions2. A review of Kaiser Permanente Northwest’s outpatient volume found that telehealth visits during the pandemic rose 108.5% in 2020, while in-person visits declined by 46% 3. Researchers calculated the carbon output from travel to and from in-person visits from 2015 to 2022, which peaked in 2019 at 19,569 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent gas and plunged 46% to 10,537 tons in 2020.

Our pledge

To measure and report on our progress on each of the above elements of corporate social responsibility.

1. Friede, G., et al. “ESG and financial performance: Aggregated evidence from more than 2,000 empirical studies,” Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 2015, Vol. 5, Number 4, pp. 210–33
2. Eckelman, M.J., et al. Health Care Pollution And Public Health Damage In The United States: An Update. Health Affairs, 2020, Vol. 39, Number 12
3. Dacones, I., et al. Patient transport greenhouse gas emissions from outpatient care at an integrated health care system in the Northwestern United States, 2015–2020. The Journal of Climate Change and Health, 2021 Vol. 3, 2667-2782