Asking patients their race, ethnicity, and language preferences can feel awkward for busy hospital registration staff, but Cincinnati-area hospitals have found that asking these questions reveals important information that can help them to more effectively identify and address potential disparities in the care they deliver.
Today more than one-third of Americans are racial or ethnic minorities, and according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the proportion will increase to more than half of the U.S. population by 2043. This shift in national demographics will have a tremendous impact...
The Detroit Alliance has garnered positive media attention for its efforts to reduce disparities in care. Marshall Chin, MD, director of the Finding Answers initiative, was recently interviewed about health care disparities on Detroit’s WDET’s “Craig Fahle Show” radio program. Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change was launched in 2005 to seek solutions to the complicated problems of racial and ethnic health care disparities. Dr. Chin explained that affordable health care doesn’t necessarily mean quality health care, nor...
It all begins with data. When you slice and dice the numbers, African Americans with diabetes in Wisconsin are four times more likely than Caucasians with diabetes to have an amputation, according to 2010 Dartmouth Atlas data. The Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ), leader of the Aligning Forces for Quality initiative in Wisconsin, is using a multi-pronged intervention approach to reduce racial disparities in care.
WCHQ is working toward a change in the culture of care to create a sustainable model. The Equity Improvement Initiative seeks to end disparities in...
The term “food desert” has been mentioned widely. Many have questioned whether living in a food desert contributes to obesity because of the preponderance of fast foods and convenience stores and the dearth of healthy options, including grocery stores selling fresh fruits and vegetables.
To increase physician usew and documentation of interpreter services, St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, WI, added a physician Best Practice Alert into Epic, the electronic medical record system the hospital uses, to highlight the need for an interpreter, inform physicians of how to access an interpreter, and inform physicians of a newly created space in Epic that allows them to document interpreter services easily. The Best Practice Alert is automatically triggered at registration for any patient who states a preference for receiving health care in a language other than English....
Successful multi-stakeholder alliances take many shapes and sizes. In AF4Q, these groups include those who receive care, provide care, and pay for care. The Healthy Memphis Common Table (HMCT)—the Aligning Forces for Quality grantee in Memphis, TN—expanded its alliance to include grocery stores as community partners. At first, this may not seem germane to health care quality and equity—a focal point of HMCT’s work—but closer inspection reveals its potential impact on food deserts is extreme.
Food deserts, or areas in otherwise developed nations...
In practice, patient-centered health care should fit the unique needs and preferences of individual patients, instead of a “one size fits all” approach. As many communities are striving to achieve this model of care, some like Kansas City, serving a diverse population, are further challenged by racial and ethnic disparities that occur in both processes and outcomes of care. According to the Dartmouth Atlas, leg amputation rates for Medicare enrollees in Kansas City are 4.5 times higher for black patients than non-black patients.
To improve and sustain...
Healthy Memphis Common Table (HMCT) held a “call to arms” on January 26 at the National Civil Rights Museum with “The State of Health Equity in Shelby County.” The luncheon, the first of its kind in the region, was designed to educate members of the community about the numerous ways growing health disparities are being addressed and empower citizens to become part of the solution. Here HMCT relaunched the Status Report on Efforts to Advance Health Equity in Clinical Care and Health Outcomes in Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee, which purposefully brought...
We Ask Because We Care
The five major health systems in Cincinnati are asking patients to identify their race, ethnicity, and preferred language (R/E/L). The Institute of Medicine’s 2002 report Unequal Treatment detailed consistent evidence of disparities of care provided in the United States. By collecting patient R/E/L data, hospitals can pinpoint possible differences in care and areas for improvement.
“We as a nation are aware...