II. Key Strategies for Collecting Patient Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data
In an effort to provide health care leaders with examples of how hospitals with different characteristics
and varying patient populations have overcome barriers to collecting and using patient race, ethnicity,
and primary language data, we interviewed and profiled the activities of four hospitals. Several of the
hospitals profiled stated similar concerns about having limited resources and staff available at their
institutions to dedicate to disparities data collection and analysis. However, this barrier did not prevent
the organizations from moving forward with efforts to examine and improve the processes for collecting
meaningful data about their patients.
The hospitals interviewed identified multiple challenges in using the data they collect to develop and
implement targeted interventions for their patients. There were multiple reasons for this. First, several
of the hospitals were still in the process of strengthening their data collection systems to collect
meaningful patient demographics data. Second, the process of mining the data for trends required more
resources than most of the hospitals had. Similarly, these hospitals recognized that developing system-wide interventions is resource-intensive and requires consideration during the regular strategic and
operational planning process. All the hospitals did express interest in simple, actionable interventions
that they could implement in response to disparities in health outcomes identified in their patient
population. Although only one hospital has made significant progress in analyzing patient data for trends
in utilization and health care outcomes, all the hospitals provided lessons for hospitals that are currently
looking to standardize their data collection process and develop an organization-wide culture around
collecting patient race, ethnicity, and primary language data.
Common key strategies emerged from the hospitals profiled as shown in the following table.
Key Strategies for Collecting Patient Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data
Strategy
1. Engage senior leadership
2. Define goals for data collection
3. Combine disparities data collection with
existing reporting requirements
4. Track and report progress on an
organization-wide basis
5. Build data collection into quality
improvement initiatives
6. Utilize national, regional, and state
resources available
7. Review, revise, and refine process and
categories constantly
Rationale
- Helps to make efforts a priority for the organization
- Maintains sustainability and accountability
- Communicates to clinicians and staff that the effort
does not end with data collection
- Streamlines activities across multiple departments
- Builds on existing hospital/system efforts
- Ensures broad-based input
- Periodically disseminating information on patient
demographics serves to further engage leadership
and staff as they see the diversity in the patient
population increase
- Ensures accountability for accuracy and consistency
in collecting data
- Eliminates the need to start from scratch and
presents a learning opportunity, with tools and
guidance from various national organizations, such as
HRET, NQF, and the Joint Commission, and state
governmental agencies, such as state departments of
public health
- Ensures that data collected is relevant
- Helps facilitate incremental changes, which could
include moving from data collection to data analysis
and use
Improving Health Equity Through Data Collection AND Use: Key Strategies
A Guide for Hospital Leaders
