Innovator Spotlight

Dr. White Perkins brings companies and colleagues together to improve the health of the community.

Why? Full of natural curiosity, most children ask this question over and over again. Luckily for all of us, Denise White-Perkins, MD, PhD, Chair of the Henry Ford Health Department of Family Medicine, has never stopped not only asking “why,” but “how do we make things better.”

That problem solving spirit, along with her passion to work with life science companies to help mitigate negative social determinants of health have put her in our Innovator Spotlight - our way of recognizing and highlighting the work of innovators across Henry Ford Health.

“I was always the little girl who wanted to know why,” Dr. White-Perkins said.

Dr. White-Perkins also is Henry Ford’s Director of Healthcare Equity Initiatives and has been for more than 20 years. She sees patients at the Henry Ford Medical Center – Detroit Northwest, two minutes away from where she grew up. Her mother is a nurse, which piqued her interest in healthcare.

“Early on I remember driving through the Detroit neighborhood and recognized that some people were better resourced than others and wondering why is it this way,” she said. “Similarly, I would interact with family and friends and neighbors who weren’t making the best health choices for themselves and again, I wanted to know why.

“And I think the asking of the why, both at the level of the individual and at the community level is something that has continued throughout my education and career and even really fuels a lot of the work I do today.”

That work to mitigate negative social determinants of health includes working with HFI, which has provided access to life science company partners critical to creating real change. Projects have included:

• The health equity summits: The most recent summit focused on access to digital health specifically in the senior community. It brought Henry Ford experts, Premier Inc., community organizations and community members together for real conversations to solve real issues affecting community health.
• Diabetic retinopathy: A comprehensive, dilated eye exam at least once a year can help patients take steps to protect their vision. Black adults with diabetes are far less likely to schedule an annual exam. Dr. White-Perkins is leading efforts with industry partners to conduct a research study to help solve this issue.

In addition to her work with HFI, Dr. White-Perkins has designed innovative health equity trainings for faith and community leaders, health professionals and medical educators. She wants to ensure that healthcare meets the needs of those who are often left out or left behind. And she likes to use data to help identify issues and then solve those issues.

For example, her team noticed they were not at goal for hypertension control for clinic patients. When they looked at the data, they found the biggest gap was among African-American men aged 35-64. She said they were perplexed at first because they had many programs available, and these men generally had insurance. What was the problem?

“We talked to some of these men and some providers and we realized there was a mismatch,” she said. “All these programs we were so proud of were offered 8 to 5. And where are young African-American men from 8 to 5? They are typically at work.”

So they adjusted the way they offered the programs, making it easier for the men to access the services. And the blood pressure control improved.

“It highlighted the point that you don’t always need another program, or gadget or widget. Maybe you just need to implement it in a way that’s going to meet people where they are.”

And for Dr. White-Perkins, being a family medicine physician is all about meeting patients where they are, understanding all the factors that affect their health and making a plan with them to address chronic health problems or simply keep them healthy.

Taking into consideration social determinants of health such as access to good food and housing, transportation to get to appointments, education, work and financial stability, and an emotional support system is critical to seeing the whole picture of a patient – and being able to treat them appropriately.

And identifying needs or gaps within the wider community and coming up with solutions is key.

“When you commit to helping one group achieve their goal, you’re helping everyone,” she said.