185411 Development of a Web-based interactive course on guidelines for systematic collection of data on patient race, ethnicity and primary language

Monday, October 27, 2008: 4:50 PM

Firoozeh Molaparast Vali, PhD , Vice President, Research, New Jersey Hospital Association/HRET, Princeton, NJ
Maria Mera , Project Coordinator, Research Department, New Jersey Hospital Association/HRET, Princeton, NJ
Previous studies have documented a need for standardized processes/protocols and a routine channel for training hospital intake registration staff on collecting patient race, ethnicity and primary language data. To address this need, a curriculum for training healthcare intake workers and registrars was designed as part of an HRET's education campaign to improve the quality, accuracy and reliability of these data. This curriculum was made available in different formats including an interactive online training course. The course offers the entire curriculum through interactive lessons, Web-exercises and sample interview video clips illustrating how to apply the recommended guidelines and protocols in an easy to follow format. The course includes information on the rationale and importance of collecting data on patient race/ethnicity/primary language; the best ways of asking questions and properly collecting these data; race, ethnicity and language categories; the patient interview script; and how to identify multiracial patients and handle unique and complex situations. Included in the online course are also educational tools and resources for hospital staff and guides for patients in 14 languages. Competency measures are also incorporated to test the learner's knowledge/skills on the recommended guidelines during the patient registration. This course will help hospitals provide a routine channel for training intake registration staff on collecting these data, as part of the new staff orientation and the current staff in-service, better address the hospital needs for ongoing staff trainings due to high turnover rates and overall improve the quality of hospital data on patient race, ethnicity and primary language.

Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of the session, the participants will be able to: 1) Learn about the importance of accurately collecting and reliably reporting patient race, ethnicity and primary language data; 2) List the type of barriers hospitals face in collecting these data and their needs for trainings, educational tools and resources; 3) Explain the components of the training program designed to address identified needs and support/improve hospital data collection efforts; 4) Describe the features of the online course and supporting educational tools and resources; 5) Describe the best ways of asking questions and properly collecting patient race and ethnicity and primary language data; 6) Learn steps in recommended patient interview script; and how to handle unique and complex situations; and 7) Identify the ways hospitals may use this course, as part of the new staff orientation and the current staff in-service, to provide a routine channel for training intake registration staff on collecting these data, better address the hospital needs for ongoing staff trainings due to high turnover rates and overall improve the quality of hospital data on patient race, ethnicity and primary language.

Keywords: Data Collection, Training

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am in charge of research department in my organization and the abstract is about one of my currents projects funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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