Aswita Tan-McGrory

A Plan for Action: Key Perspectives from the Racial/Ethnic Disparities Strategy Forum

CONTEXT Racial and ethnic disparities in health care in the United States have been well documented, with research largely focusing on describing the problem rather than identifying the best practices or proven strategies to address it. METHODS In 2006, the Disparities Solutions Center convened a one-and-a-half-day Strategy Forum composed of twenty experts from the fields of racial/ethnic disparities in health care, quality improvement, implementation research, and organizational excellence, with the goal of deciding on innovative action items and adoption strategies to address disparities. The forum used the Results Based Facilitation model, and several key recommendations emerged. FINDINGS The forums participants concluded that to identify and effectively address racial/ethnic disparities in health care, health care organizations should: (1) collect race and ethnicity data on patients or enrollees in a routine and standardized fashion; (2) implement tools to measure and monitor for disparities in care; (3) develop quality improvement strategies to address disparities; (4) secure the support of leadership; (5) use incentives to address disparities; and (6) create a message and communication strategy for these efforts. This article also discusses these recommendations in the context of both current efforts to address racial and ethnic disparities in health care and barriers to progress. CONCLUSIONS The Strategy Forums participants concluded that health care organizations needed a multifaceted plan of action to address racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Although the ideas offered are not necessarily new, the discussion of their practical development and implementation should make them more useful.

Identifying and Preventing Medical Errors in Patients With Limited English Proficiency: Key Findings and Tools for the Field

Abstract: Since the 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report To Err is Human, progress has been made in patient safety, but few efforts have focused on safety in patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). This article describes the development, content, and testing of two new evidence‐based Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) tools for LEP patient safety. In the content development phase, a comprehensive mixed‐methods approach was used to identify common causes of errors for LEP patients, high‐risk scenarios, and evidence‐based strategies to address them. Based on our findings, Improving Patient Safety Systems for Limited English Proficient Patients: A Guide for Hospitals contains recommendations to improve detection and prevention of medical errors across diverse populations, and TeamSTEPPS Enhancing Safety for Patients with Limited English Proficiency Module trains staff to improve safety through team communication and incorporating interpreters in the care process. The Hospital Guide was validated with leaders in quality and safety at diverse hospitals, and the TeamSTEPPS LEP module was field‐tested in varied settings within three hospitals. Both tools were found to be implementable, acceptable to their audiences, and conducive to learning. Further research on the impact of the combined use of the guide and module would shed light on their value as a multifaceted intervention.

Improving transgender health by building safe clinical environments that promote existing resilience: Results from a qualitative analysis of providers

BackgroundTransgender (TG) individuals experience discordance between their sex at birth and their gender identity. To better understand the health care needs and characteristics of TG youth that contribute to resilience, we conducted a qualitative study with clinical and non-clinical providers.MethodsIn-depth interviews were conducted of providers (n = 11) of TG youth (ages 13–21). Convenience and purposive sampling were used to recruit participants in the Boston area. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. An interview guide of 14 open-ended questions was used to guide the discussion. A grounded theory approach was utilized to code and analyze the data, including double-coding to address issues of inter-rater reliability.ResultsFive primary themes emerged: 1) resilience of TG youth 2) lack of access to services that influence health, 3) the critical role of social support, 4) challenges in navigating the health care system, and 5) the need for trans-affirming competency training for providers and frontline staff.ConclusionThe findings of this study show that providers recognize multiple barriers and challenges in the care of TG youth. However, they also identify the resilience exhibited by many youth. We propose that providers can further enhance the resilience of TG youth and help them flourish by offering them necessary resources via the creation of safe and welcoming clinical environments.

Eliminating disparities among Latinos with type 2 diabetes: Effective eHealth strategies

Latinos are at increased risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Well-designed information technology (IT) interventions have been shown to be generally efficacious in improving diabetes self-management. However, there are very few published IT intervention studies focused on Latinos. With the documented close of the digital divide, Latinos stand to benefit from such advances. There are limited studies on how best to address the unique socio-cultural-linguistic characteristics that would optimize adoption, use and benefit among Latinos. Successful e-health programs involve frequent communication, bidirectionality including feedback, and multimodal delivery of the intervention. The use of community health workers (CHWs) has been shown consistently to improve T2D outcomes in Latinos. Incorporating CHWs into eHealth interventions is likely to address barriers with technology literacy and improve patient activation, satisfaction and adherence. Additionally, tailored interventions are more successful in improving patient activation. It is important to note that tailoring is more than linguistic translation; tailoring interventions to the Latino population will need to address educational, language, literacy and acculturation levels, along with unique illness beliefs and attitudes about T2D found among Latinos. Interventions will need to go beyond the lone participant and include shared decision making models that incorporate family members and friends.

Organizational Change Management For Health Equity: Perspectives From The Disparities Leadership Program

Leaders of health care organizations need to be prepared to improve quality and achieve equity in todays health care environment characterized by a focus on achieving value and addressing disparities in a diverse population. To help address this need, the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital launched the Disparities Leadership Program in 2007. The leadership program is an ongoing, year-long, executive education initiative that trains leaders from hospitals, health plans, and health centers to improve quality and eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Feedback from participating organizations demonstrates that health care leaders seem to possess knowledge about what disparities are and about what should be done to eliminate them. Data collection, performance measurement, and multifaceted interventions remain the tools of the trade. However, the barriers to success are lack of leadership buy-in, organizational prioritization, energy, and execution, which can be addressed through organizational change management strategies.

A patient and family data domain collection framework for identifying disparities in pediatrics: results from the pediatric health equity collaborative

BackgroundBy 2020, the child population is projected to have more racial and ethnic minorities make up the majority of the populations and health care organizations will need to have a system in place that collects accurate and reliable demographic data in order to monitor disparities. The goals of this group were to establish sample practices, approaches and lessons learned with regard to race, ethnicity, language, and other demographic data collection in pediatric care setting.MethodsA panel of 16 research and clinical professional experts working in 10 pediatric care delivery systems in the US and Canada convened twice in person for 3-day consensus development meetings and met multiple times via conference calls over a two year period. Current evidence on adult demographic data collection was systematically reviewed and unique aspects of data collection in the pediatric setting were outlined. Human centered design methods were utilized to facilitate theme development, facilitate constructive and innovative discussion, and generate consensus.ResultsGroup consensus determined six final data collection domains: 1) caregivers, 2) race and ethnicity, 3) language, 4) sexual orientation and gender identity, 5) disability, and 6) social determinants of health. For each domain, the group defined the domain, established a rational for collection, identified the unique challenges for data collection in a pediatric setting, and developed sample practices which are based on the experience of the members as a starting point to allow for customization unique to each health care organization. Several unique challenges in the pediatric setting across all domains include: data collection on caregivers, determining an age at which it is appropriate to collect data from the patient, collecting and updating data at multiple points across the lifespan, the limits of the electronic health record, and determining the purpose of the data collection before implementation.ConclusionsThere is no single approach that will work for all organizations when collecting race, ethnicity, language and other social determinants of health data. Each organization will need to tailor their data collection based on the population they serve, the financial resources available, and the capacity of the electronic health record.

Addressing language barriers and improving quality of transitions and discharge

The article by Rayan et al., “Transitions from Hospital to Community Care: the Role of Patient-Provider Language Concordance”, highlights the importance of language-concordant communication and care during the hospital discharge process. These findings are completely in line with previous research on the impact of language barriers on quality of care. We strongly agree with Rayan et al. and the findings of this important research, and support efforts that help meet the cultural and linguistic needs of patients. Undoubtedly, patient–provider language concordance during the hospitalization discharge process and post discharge follow-up have important implications for health care transitions, quality, and costs. How can hospitals improve their performance in this area? Based on extensive research, there are currently two major hospital guides that were developed in the United States that focus on this area—improving communication and care for patients of diverse backgrounds and with language barriers. One, Project RED—or Re-Engineered Discharge, and the second, Improving Patient Safety Systems for Patients With Limited English Proficiency: A Guide for Hospitals, both aim to address these challenges. If we are to truly delivery high-quality, safe, cost-effective care, meeting the needs of patients who experience language barriers during health care will be essential as global migration and diversity increases every day.