What will it feel like when every person, every family, every community, our entire country is in full health? What would it look like if the future of health we strive for in our innovation efforts is one where each of us is seen, heard, honored, valued, treated, cared for in full?

We can get there by funding health solutions created for, with, and by people of all ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, ages, national origins, and income levels.

We can get there by intentionally directing more innovation resources to those who have been excluded or underserved due to structural racism and bias.

We can get there. And the time to start the movement toward full health for all was yesterday.

The Principles for Equitable Health Innovation propose a shared vision of the health outcomes we can achieve across this nation if organizations shift resources to innovators from — and create solutions that improve health outcomes of — Black, Latinx, Indigenous, people of color, women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, people with low income, and other communities historically marginalized by the health industry. They show where our nation will stand if organizations adopt solution development and assessment processes that center the needs of patients from these priority communities, and on the needs of the health professionals and caregivers who serve them.

The “In Full Health” initiative is a call to health industry stakeholders to center the principles of equity within their innovation investment, development, and purchasing efforts.

The “In Full Health” initiative was sparked by the American Medical Association’s strategic plan to embed racial justice and embed equity, specifically related to the “Ensure equitable structures and opportunities in health innovation” strategic approach. 

This initial set of principles was co-developed by the AMA Center for Health Equity, the AMA’s External Equity & Innovation Advisory Group, The Greystone Group, internal AMA innovation and equity stakeholders, and with input from more than thirty additional leaders of organizations working at the intersection of health equity and health innovation. This effort was additionally powered by the incredible teams at digital experience agency, CareContent, and social justice consulting firm, Converge for Change. 

As the leading sponsor of this movement, the AMA recognizes and acknowledges that past practices, policies, and organizational silence have harmed communities that have been historically marginalized, and excluded them from healthcare and medicine. A more detailed accounting of the AMA’s past can be found on pages 25 to 28 in the AMA’s Organizational Strategic Plan to Embed Racial Justice and Advance Health Equity. 

We are grateful to launch this movement in partnership with the founding set of signatories and collaborators below, and look forward to building our community together.

Collaborator organizations help strengthen, amplify, and integrate the principles into the work they are already leading at the intersection of health, equity, and innovation. They are committed to building the movement by inviting commitment from the health innovation funders, solution developers, and solution customers in their respective communities and networks. They engage with In Full Health signatory organizations to learn, inform, and gather feedback on policy and systems change efforts to advance equitable health innovation opportunities.