226831 Successful Strategies for Reducing Health Care Disparities: Testing the Healthcare Equity Blueprint

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Sari Siegel Spieler, PhD , Research, National Associaton of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, Washington, DC
Lindsey Marshall, MPP , Research, National Public Health and Hospital Institute/National Association of Public Hospitals, Washington, DC
Linda Cummings, PhD , Research, National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems & National Public Health and Hospital Institute, Washington, DC
The National Public Health and Hospital Institute (NPHHI) convened a meeting of national experts on health care disparities and quality improvement to outline a framework for hospitals to address racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) packaged the group's input into strategies for hospitals, health centers, and individual providers to ensure that all patients receive high quality health care. NPHHI published these strategies in Assuring Healthcare Equity: A Healthcare Equity Blueprint in 2008.

NPHHI is now evaluating the impact of the Blueprint by conducting a survey of safety-net hospitals to determine how strategies in the Blueprint have been implemented. NPHHI will identify examples of how institutions have implemented the recommended strategies for providing more equitable care. The project's goal is to refine the recommendations based upon experiences of those in the field. NPHHI's survey will be based on the domains included in the Blueprint, which include:

1. Creating partnerships with the community/patients/families; 2. Articulating a commitment to equitable care from hospital leadership; 3. Providing evidence-based care in a culturally- and linguistically-appropriate manner; 4. Implementing indicators to measure/monitor equitable care delivery; and 5. Communicating with patients effectively with sensitivity to cultural needs/expectations.

In this presentation, NPHHI will present the survey findings, and for each domain, provide examples of specific public hospital experiences in implementing the recommended strategies. These examples will help session participants the recommendations with real-world experiences from safety net institutions.

Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Diversity and culture

Learning Objectives:
(1) Learn about Assuring Healthcare Equity: A Healthcare Equity Blueprint, a tool funded by the DHHS Office of Minority Health and created by the National Public Health and Hospital Institute and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, which is being used around the country to help safety net hospitals reduce racial and ethnic disparities; (2) Gain insights learned from hospitals that have already implemented these strategies about which have been most effective; and (3) Learn which strategies can be replicated in other hospitals and health care delivery settings to reduce racial and ethnic health care disparities.

Keywords: Health Disparities, Hospitals

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Assistant Vice President for Research at the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, and I conduct research on quality improvement and health care disparities.
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.

Back to: 4237.0: Medical Care Section Poster Session V: Ethnic & Racial Disparities