Boston Disparities Project: Data Collection Regulation and Quality Improvement Strategies

The Boston Disparities Project, developed by the Boston Public Health Commission and Mayor Thomas M. Menino, focuses on eliminating health disparities among the City's minority populations. The Commission recognizes that in order to identify and combat differences in health care use and health outcomes, an accurate and consistent system for collecting patient demographics is integral to closing the gap. In July 2006 the Commissions's Board of Health voted in favor of mandatory data collection regulations. By November 2007 all Boston acute care hospitals were required to have a system in place to collect information on each patient's race, ethnicity, preferred language, and level of education. The first phase of reporting for hospitals will take place March 2008. A Health Equity Committee consisting of representatives from hospitals and health centers is charged with developing a data reporting framework and quality improvement strategies for clinical settings. We hope to share Boston's experiences and strategies in expanding the implementation of the data regulations to all Boston community health centers by November 2008, for we believe that accurate data collection is a powerful tool in eliminating health disparities and improving quality of care. We also hope to highlight the data we gathered and the process used to select quality measures for the reduction of health care disparities. Armed with patterns extrapolated from patient demographics, health departments and health institutions across the country will be better suited to develop public health programs and interventions that are targeted to the needs of their population.