Collecting and Reporting of Race and Ethnicity Data is Key to Achieving Health Equity
By Chris Armijo, The Colorado Trust
As more attention shifts to health equity in Colorado, collecting and reporting data by race and ethnicity will be a critical tool in understanding health disparities. Within an increasingly racially and ethnically diverse state, health care organizations need to know more information about all the communities they serve. One way to gain better understanding of their patients is to gather information from them.
A new report from The Colorado Trust, Health Equity and Race and Ethnicity Data: How Race and Ethnicity Data is Collected and Used, examines how gathering data from patients can help reduce health disparities and create health equity. Drawing from its Equality in Health grant program, The Colorado Trust has identified many aspects of collecting race and ethnicity data for organizations to consider, including the importance of analyzing, using and reporting these data; legal mandates; and best practices health care organizations can adopt.
First, health care organizations may want to consider how they analyze, share and use the data. After reviewing and analyzing the data, organizations may understand more about patients’ health disparities and be able to modify their services to address patient needs.
Second, the report also outlines and summarizes laws and regulations to consider when inquiring about patient information. The federal government has set standards for how health care organizations can collect, analyze, use and report patient data.
Finally, organizations may also want to think about staff training. Leading staff discussions and trainings on legal requirements, how the organization will use the data and how to appropriately collect the data from patients will make it easier for staff to gather the information.
Collecting race and ethnicity data can provide health care organizations with useful information about their patients, including whether any racial and ethnic patient populations are experiencing disparities in their health and health care and adapting services to meet the needs of their diverse clients.
Read the highlights or full report to learn more about how organizations might improve their collection and use of racial and ethnic data as one means to strengthen equitable and quality health care services.
