PLANNING, DESIGNING, IMPLEMENTING, & EVALUATING PROGRAMS: REDUCING HEALTH DISPARITIES THROUGH QUALITY IMPROVEMENT​
​
The Disparities Solutions Center is collaborating with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) through a contract with NORC at the University of Chicago to design, implement, and evaluate a portfolio of quality improvement programs to reduce health disparities. The initial phase of this work involved developing the CMS Equity Plan for Improving Quality in Medicare, the first plan of its kind to address health equity in Medicare. The plan is aimed at reducing disparities for Medicare beneficiaries known to experience lower quality care, including racial and ethnic minorities, patients with limited English proficiency, sexual and gender minorities, and people with disabilities.
​
In addition to the plan, the DSC has collaborated with CMS OMH and NORC to produce the resources below.
GUIDE TO REDUCING DISPARITIES IN READMISSIONS
Racial and ethnic minority populations are more likely than their white counterparts to be readmitted within 30 days of discharge for certain chronic conditions. Social, cultural, and linguistic barriers contribute to higher rates of readmission in these populations.
​
This Guide offers action-oriented guidance for addressing avoidable readmissions in this population by providing:
-
an overview of key issues related to disparities in readmissions;
-
a set of activities that can help hospital leaders address readmissions; and
-
strategies aimed at reducing readmissions in diverse populations.
COMPENDIUM OF RESOURCES FOR STANDARDIZED DEMOGRAPHIC AND LANGUAGE DATA COLLECTION
This Compendium is designed to help organizations collect standardized race, ethnicity, and language (REaL) and disability data. It provides users with a one-stop shop of the latest federal data collection standards, in addition to tools to help users and their organizations collect standardized REaL and disability data.
​
The Compendium includes:
-
REaL data collection resources including federal standards, reports, guides, toolkits, trainings, and sentinel articles
-
Disability data collection resources and federal standards
​
The Data Collection Compendium was prepared with The Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and NORC at the University of Chicago.