Advancing health equity: What does 'success' look like?

At the conclusion of an interview with Medical Economics at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting 2025 in New Orleans, Earl Stewart Jr., MD, FACP, shares his vision for what a truly equitable health care system could and should look like — one that delivers high-quality care to every patient, everywhere.

“I dream of a day where, irrespective of locality … irrespective of socioeconomic status … primary language … sexual identity … racial makeup or ethnic background, that each individual would be afforded the highest level, evidence-based, cost-conscious healthcare — everywhere, every time,” Stewart said.

He acknowledged that true equity remains an aspirational goal and invoked a quote from one of his inspirations, the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: “Real change happens one step at a time.” Stewart added, “We talk a lot about advancing health equity, but you can’t advance something that has not been created.”

Despite political and systemic challenges, Stewart said progress has been made. “There have been a remarkable amount of successes that have been made,” he said. “We need to stay in tune, but we need to continue to work, advocate, and fight. This is social justice work.”

He called on every clinician and institution — from individual physicians to large health systems and advocacy groups — to continue pushing toward that vision. “That, to me, would be the ultimate achievement of success in this realm.”