| | MAY - 202319UTLOOKHealthcare Tech As we know, the COVID-19 pandemic finally exposed health inequities in the U.S. into the mainstream. These preventable inequities have a financial toll on our healthcare system. These inequities can be mitigated with the foundation of an effective health equity strategy. Such a strategy depends on an organization's capacity to collect accurate patient data, including race, ethnicity, and language (REAL). In today's value-based care environment, organizations are accountable for improving health outcomes and lowering costs. To achieve these goals, organizations need to better know and understand their patients. The evidence clearly points to the significant role of demographic variables, such as race and language, in shaping the quality of care experienced by patients/clients. With equity now universally recognized as a pillar of quality, providing excellent care cannot be achieved without integrating an equity component.Healthcare organizations must embark on a journey of using data to show a path to achieving greater equity. Disaggregating quality measures by factors such as race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and dual insurance status of having Medicare and Medicaid at the same time can provide valuable information to tailor equity interventions and The Role of Patient Demographic Data in Health EquityBy Tina Loarte-Rodriguez, MSN, RN, CIC, CPPS, CPHRM, Vice President of Nursing, Wheeler ClinicTina Loarte-RodriguezCXO INSIGHTSFOR DATA TO BE ACCURATE AND RELIABLE, IT NEEDS TO BE COMPLETE. COMPLETE DATA PROMOTES AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF THOSE SERVED AND IMPROVES THE ABILITY TO ACHIEVE HEALTH EQUITY FOR VULNERABLE POPULATIONS
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