Health Equity
News, Statements, and Testimony on Health Equity Issues
25th Council session information coming soon.
The Healthy Physician Foundation Announces Inaugural Winner of the Dr. Cesar A. Caceres Innovation in Healthcare Technology Award
Join The Healthy Physician Foundation, MSDC, and the healthcare community in celebrating a special awardee at the 2025 Capital Healthcare Honors.
Caretaker Medical is the inaugural winner of the Dr. Cesar A. Caceres Innovation in Healthcare Technology Award.
This new award, presented by the Healthy Physician Foundation and Institute for Technology in Health Care, honors the legacy of Dr. Caceres, a visionary physician and inventor whose groundbreaking medical devices continue to shape healthcare today. This award recognizes a DC area company that reflects Dr. Caceres’s spirit of innovation by leveraging technology to address critical healthcare challenges and improve the practice of medicine.
Celebrate Caretaker Medical and the individual awardees at the 2025 Capital Healthcare Honors on March 26 at the National Press Club. Learn how you can purchase a table or sponsor the event here.
This award is supported by a grant from The Institute for Technology in HealthCare, a non-profit organization, located in Washington, DC. The Institute for Technology in HealthCare is concerned with the use of technology to benefit and stimulate others in health care. For more information about The Institute for Technology in HealthCare please visit the website at www.ithcawards.org.
Caretaker Medical is a digital health company based in Charlottesville, VA that is focused on developing continuous patient monitoring platforms that improve outcomes, increase clinician productivity and maximize patient compliance and comfort. Its VitalStream platform is the world's only FDA-cleared wireless, wearable cardiac output and non-invasive blood pressure monitor. It merges intuitive, user-friendly technology with the clinical accuracy needed from an acute-care hemodynamic monitor. Data can be visualized on a tablet or smartphone interface, transmitted to hospital EMRs, or uploaded to a secure cloud interface for remote patient monitoring. Learn more here.
Sample of Health Equity Legislation MSDC Tracked
What does it say? The bill allows for the administration of medicinal marijuana in schools as well as allows students to bring sunscreen to schools and apply it without a prescription.
MSDC position: MSDC supports the language permitting sunscreen application in schools
Current status: A win for DC physicians and public health! The legislation passed the Council in February and was signed by the Mayor. Previous temporary and emergency legislation permitted students to use sunscreen at schools this school year already.
What does it say? The bill requires DC Health to establish an electronic Medical Order for Scope of Treatment registry (eMOST).
MSDC position: MSDC supports this legislation to more easily allow patients to make their treatment orders known.
Current status: A win for the physician community and our patients! The Council passed the bill in December and the Mayor signed it into law on January 16, 2020.
What does it say? The bill would implement a 1.5 cent per ounce tax on the distribution of "sugary" beverages. The money collected from the tax would establish a Healthy People, Healthy Places Open Spaces Grant Program.
MSDC position: MSDC sent a letter to Council Chair Mendelson asking for a hearing to discuss all of the issues around a beverage tax.
Current status: The bill was introduced October 8, 2019 and referred to the Committee on Business and Economic Development and the Committee of the Whole.
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