Health literacy isn’t the same thing as reading literacy; 90 million Americans are considered to have low health literacy, Dr. Michelle Gourdine, chief medical officer at CVS Caremark, said at Fortune ’s Brainstorm Health conference in Dana Point, Calif., on Monday.
That means “they’re unable to gather and understand information and apply it to improve their health because the system is complicated,” Gourdine explained during a panel on rebuilding trust within health care moderated by Fortune Well editor Jennifer Fields. To be sure, the American medical system is famously complicated—only 12% of adults in the country are considered to have high health literacy, added Dr. Gourdine, who also serves as senior vice president at CVS Health .
The trust crisis in health has been a long time coming. The coronavirus crisis, the ongoing political polarization of America and the lack of affordability have all contributed to the erosion of trust in the medical profession, said Nikhil Bumb, managing director at FSG, who appeared alongside Dr. Gourdine.
“We’re also seeing that trust is at an all-time low with institutions,” Bumb said. Of course, there’s a lot at play. Apart from health literacy, there’s an enormous issue of access.
Dr. Gourdine mentioned she lives in a community where there are five supermarkets within a three-mile radius, plenty of public transportation, and doctors’ offices—and she has insurance. But that’s not the case for the 25 million unin.