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Individual Course

Reducing Racial Disparities in Health Care

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Course Length

5 weeks

4–5 hours per week

Featuring faculty from:

Harvard Medical School LogoHarvard Medical School

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health LogoHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Certificate Price:

$ 950

Apply by Oct 27, 2025

Apply Now

Certificate Price:

$ 950

Apply by Oct 27, 2025

Apply Now

In partnership with the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, this course will help you deliver high-quality health care to all through organizational change.

What is inequality in health care? What does social justice in health care look like? Does your organization address racial equity and access to care? Is diversity, bias, and inclusion a common conversation or evaluation to improve delivery? How do you address these topics with your leadership and board members?

Racial disparity in the United States health care industry isn’t a new topic; for decades researchers have focused on quality of care, access, and safety of people of color versus their white counterparts. While in recent years quality and access has improved in the U.S. thanks to initiatives like the Affordable Care Act, there is still a gap in the quality of care different groups receive. It’s vital to continue closing the biases and disparities in health care through education, communication, and action.

In Reducing Racial Disparities in Health Care, you will not only examine the disparities that exist when serving a diverse population, but also approach each inequity head-on to learn more about the causes and how to eliminate these issues. By focusing on data collection and performance measurements unique to your organization, you will identify how core issues in care quality of ethnic and racial minority groups, which are often multifactorial in nature, contribute to poorer health outcomes, lead to higher costs, and exemplify low-value health care.

Self-Guided

HBS Online

Industries:

  • Health Care
  • Government
  • Other Non-profit
  • Education
  • Rae N.
  • Christy
  • Course Participant

Global Learning Community

  • Learn from real case studies
  • Do it on your own time
  • Get a certificate, add it to your resume
  • Be part of the Harvard Community
Data Science for Business values

Syllabus

Reducing Racial Disparities in Health Care is a health equity course introduces strategies that advance policy and practice to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The course begins with understanding our history (Module 1), followed by learning about the foundations of this type of work (Modules 2 through 4), and ending with an examination of emerging topics (Module 5). Online Course requirements: There are no prerequisites needed to take this online course. In order to earn a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Online, participants must thoughtfully complete all 5 modules, including satisfactory completion of the associated quizzes, by stated deadlines.

Faculty

Industry Experts

Your Instructor

Aswita Tan-McGrory

Director of the Disparities Solutions Center and the Director of Equity in Care Implementation at Massachusetts General Hospital

Aswita Tan-McGrory, MBA, MSPH (she/her/hers) is the Director of the Disparities Solutions Center and the Director of Equity in Care Implementation at Massachusetts General Hospital. At the Disparities Solutions Center she leads the mission to address racial and ethnic disparities in health care and oversees the Disparities Leadership Program. As Director of Equity in Care Implementation she provides leadership for assuring equity in access to, and delivery of clinical care, specifically related to the “Doorstep to Bedside” approach of assessing the care delivery continuum at Massachusetts General Hospital. Ms. Tan-McGrory is a subject matter expert and public speaker, and travels across the country to speak to organizations about how race, ethnicity, and language impact the quality of care.

Your Instructor

Joseph Betancourt

Joseph Betancourt , MD, MPH (he/him/his), is the newly appointed President of the Commonwealth Fund, becoming one of the first Latino heads of a national health care foundation. He previously served as Senior Vice President, Equity and Community Health at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He was the founder of the Disparities Solutions Center (DSC) at MGH, Faculty at the Mongan Institute, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and he continues as a practicing Internal Medicine physician. He is the current chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association and sits in its Board of Trustees. He was inaugural incumbent of the Sumner M. Redstone Endowed Chair in Health Equity. Dr. Betancourt is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in health policy, health care disparities, diversity, and cross-cultural medicine.

Industry Expert

Mitchell Kellaway

Mitchell Kellaway is the Program Manager for Data Accuracy within the Health Equity team of the Mass General Brigham (MGB) Office of the Chief Medical Officer. His work will help illuminate best practices for measuring, monitoring, and reporting on race, ethnicity, and language preferences (REaL) data.

Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.

Industry Expert

Alvin Powell, MD

Dr. Alvin Powell is the Vice President of Clinical Care, Health Equity at Cone Health in North Carolina. His case study will help you understand how structural racism and discrimination (SRD) has shaped the health care system and what organizations can do to acknowledge past harms.

Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.

Industry Expert

Altaf Saadi, MD

Dr. Altaf Saadi is the Associate Director at the Mass General Asylum Clinic and Principal Investigator for the Neurodisparities and Health Justice Lab at MGH. She will help you look ahead to emerging topics in health care disparity and prepare your organization to better serve immigrant populations.

Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.

I think this course should be a requirement for all people who work in the health care industry, from environmental service folks to CEOs.

Rae N.

Occupational Therapist

This is an eye opening essential learning for all people working in health care. It is essential to understand what lies beneath the surface of our current systems and how they are stacked against certain populations.

Christy

Director of Health Equity

This course opened my eyes to issues I had not thought about... The course made me think about these challenges, and in particular, how they apply in my organization. It also made me aware of the growing challenges in the industry.

Course Participant

Designing a Nation Project to Address and Reduce Socio-Economic Disparities in Healthcare in Egypt will be a big spot light in our Healthcare Provision history. So, I trusted Harvard to be enrolled in this topic because of gaining knowledge, experience and tools from The Best Practice in the field Globally and I was right and [this course] introduced me to all I need to start in this critical field [of Health Equity].

Hesham Ahmed Z.

Medical Director & Healthcare Network Lead

Take two extra eligible courses for and receive a Health Care Leadership Certificate of Specialization

Health Care Leadership courses are developed with health care professionals in mind. Harvard University faculty guides you through topics with a specific focus on the current state of the US health care system and how you can apply innovative strategies to make improvements within your organization.

Learn more
  • Choose 3 eligible courses
  • Complete your courses within 18 months
  • Earn Your Certificate

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A variety of formats, from long-form courses that replicate an on-campus classroom experience to short-form content

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Past Participant Discounts

Learners who have enrolled in at least one qualifying Harvard Online program can receive a 30% discount, automatically applied to the Program Fee upon time of payment.

Learners who have earned a verified certificate for a HarvardX course hosted on the edX platform are eligible to receive a 30% discount using a discount code. Please check your email for a code or contact us.

Nonprofit, Government, Military, and Education Discounts

Eligibility is determined by a prospective learner’s email address, ending in .org, .gov, .mil, or .edu. Interested learners can apply below for the discount and, if eligible, will receive a promo code to enter when completing payment information to enroll in a Harvard Online program.

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