Health Care Equity

Health Care Equity

In order to ensure that all patients receive the same safe, high quality care, hospitals must examine their own data to identify any differences in processes or outcomes for patients of different races and ethnicities, and patients who speak different languages. This measure assesses whether a hospital is taking the following steps: 

1. Collecting, at a minimum, patient self-identified race, ethnicity, and preferred language
2. Training staff responsible for collecting this information directly from patients 
3. Stratifying at least one quality measure using the information collected from patients, and if disparities are identified (e.g., Black birthing people have a significantly higher rate of cesarean section than white birthing people), putting actions in place to address the disparity
4. Sharing information on the hospital's public website to inform the community of their efforts to reduce health care disparities 
5. Reporting out to the board on efforts to reduce health care disparities

Reporting Period

• 2024

Patients Included in the Measure

• Inpatients (Patients who are admitted to the hospital for at least one overnight stay)
• Outpatients (Patients who are admitted and discharged on the same day)
• Adults and Children