EP25 – Collecting demographic data
Cancer Center CornerPULSE April 16, 2012
Is Collecting and Reporting Patient Demographic Data Really That Important?
What Difference Does It Make Anyway?Can Collecting and Reporting Patient Demographic Data Reduce Disparities?
Resources to Improve Collection and Reporting of Race, Ethnicity and Language Data Collection
Study Identifies How Race and Ethnicity Data Collection Facilitated Improvement in Cardiovascular Care for Minorities:Despite well documented evidence of racial disparities in cardiovascular care, lack of reliable patient demographic data has contributed to a dearth of information on how quality improvement efforts can reduce these disparities. A new paper in the Journal for Healthcare Quality assesses lessons learned from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Expecting Success: Excellence in Cardiac Care initiative, and the ability of participating hospitals to measure and improve the care they provide to minority patients.
Hospitals in the program used the standardized collection of patient race, ethnicity, and language (REL) data to examine performance and implement targeted quality improvements. Researchers found that seven of the 10 hospitals in the program were able to show a statistically significant improvement in care, while three found and eliminated racial or ethnic disparities during the course of the project. The authors conclude that these techniques may hold promise for improving quality and reducing disparities.
Nurse researchers find disparities in pain treatment Pain is generally undertreated in the United States, but low-income and minority patients are even less likely to receive guideline-recommended pain treatment in virtually all healthcare settings, according to the authors of a new paper from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Nursing.
The Commission to End Health Care Disparities has released a report focusing on demographic data collection in ambulatory settings. It includes key reasons to collect demographic data and a sample script for staff who request race and ethnicity data.
The 2009 Institute of Medicine Guidelines on Race, Ethnicity and Language Data is key source and compares a number of the ways the questions are being asked across several institutions. It gives practical solutions for continuous improvement of data and efforts to use data to identify and address disparities in care.
The Joint Commission: Advancing Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient- and Family-Centered Care: A Roadmap for Hospitals. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: The Joint Commission, 2010 states that accredited hospitals must collect patient-level demographic data on race and ethnicity to identify the needs of individual patients and to eliminate disparities in the patient population. These critical data provide hospitals with information on the potential cultural needs of each patient, as well as an opportunity to monitor and analyze health disparities at the population level. Prepared by NCCCP-Penrose collaborating partner, the Colorado Latino Community Network Project; Latino Research and Policy Center, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, April 10, 2012 under SAIC Fredrick subcontract#10ST1091