Natalie Thomas, IT Data Analyst

CHCACT recently was selected by the Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy to provide technical assistance on the Health Equity Standard to health centers participating in the Community and Clinical Integration Program (CCIP). The health centers must meet two requirements to be successful in this standard. For Part I, they need to collect and analyze granular race and ethnicity, preferred language, and sexual orientation gender identify (SOGI) data. In Part II, the health centers will utilize Community Health Workers (CHWs) to address a disparity identified through the data analysis in Part I.

Health centers already use a comprehensive patient-centered assessment to capture the majority of the standard’s data. As HRSA grant recipients, health centers collect and report race and ethnicity in broad categories (e.g., Asian, Hispanic or Latino, etc), preferred language, and SOGI information each year as part of their Uniform Data Set (UDS) submission. The major change will be in collect granular race and ethnicity data (e.g., Haitian, Portuguese, etc).

Why is it important to collect race and ethnicity at this level? It allows clinicians and practices to identify specific populations with a disparity and perform targeted interventions and additional support. Knowing and understanding the population’s cultural and economic barriers is essential for a clinician to manage the patients’ care. Additionally, understanding which populations could benefit from additional support helps identify additional funding opportunities.

After a disparity is identified, the health centers will conduct a root cause analysis, a process used to identify the reasons for the disparity. The health center staff who help patients coordinate their care and address social determinants of health, often titled CHWs or Care Coordinators, will then pilot an intervention to address the barriers to reduce the disparity.

These past few weeks, CHCACT has partnered with Qualidigm to conduct baseline assessments to determine where the participating health centers are and what they still need to do to meet the standard. The health centers are excited for the opportunity to improve the care they provide to their patients and reduce barriers to receiving that care. Over the next few months, the health centers will be drilling down on data and coming up with innovative ways to improve the healthcare of the communities they serve.

If you’d like to know more information please feel free to reach out to me!