Addressing Evaluation Inequity through a Unified Evaluation Process

CHANNELS, a multi-year Health Resources and Service Administration grant, is aimed at improving the health of immigrants and refugees through innovations in community-based inter-professional health care. Since 2012, CHANNELS has emerged as an innovator in addressing clinical needs and social determinants of health in multi-cultural and complex settings.

Immigrant and refugee populations face a myriad of health challenges due to language and cultural barriers, as well as significant health disparities. Factors such as patient satisfaction, quality and cost of care and population health improvement have emerged as a new paradigm connecting communities and clinical organizations with goals of improving healthcare services. Collectively, these outcomes are referred to as the Triple Aim.

A Unified Data Collection Workgroup, composed of formal and informal CHANNELS partners was established to focus on measuring the Triple Aim. Membership included community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, health systems, and academic institutions. Guided by CBPR principles, innovative evaluation tools and data collection methods have been developed that enable Workgroup members (individually and collectively) to measure the Triple Aim. Standardized instruments include the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Provider and Systems and the Patient Activation Measure These and other quantitative data are collected by Community Health Outreach Workers or accessed from electronic medical records.

This presentation will describe, report, and reflect on the collaborative process and evaluation tools used to measure the Triple Aim. We will discuss how shared data has helped inform and transform the landscape of healthcare in Portland, Maine and improve the health of immigrant and refugee populations.