Health Care Disparities
An important distinction between safety net and non-safety net hospitals is the patient population they serve. More than half of public hospital patients are racial and ethnic minorities, and a majority of patients are uninsured or qualify for Medicaid. Accordingly, public hospitals have long led the health care industry in providing quality care to diverse and vulnerable communities.
Together with its members, NAPH is committed to helping reduce racial, ethnic, linguistic and socioeconomic health care disparities. Below are examples of NAPH's work in investigating and disseminating promising practices to achieve health equity.
Resources for this section
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Assuring Healthcare Equity: A Healthcare Equity Blueprint(September 2008) Through a generous grant provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health, the National Public Health and Hospital Institute (NPHHI) - NAPH's research affiliate - released "Assuring Healthcare Equity: A Healthcare Equity Blueprint" in September 2008. In developing the Blueprint, NPHHI combined the expertise of national health care disparities leaders, experience of NAPH members, strategies for quality improvement designed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and the research knowledge of The Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. The Blueprint serves as a guide for all hospitals and providers, and offers strategies to address disparities through interventions that can be tailored to the individual hospital setting.
- Research Brief: Public Hospitals Focus on Reducing Health Care Disparities
(December 2008) NAPH conducted a study in 2008 on promising, replicable public hospital practices that are successfully reducing health care disparites in member hospitals. This Research Brief identifies organizational models to address health care equity, as well as characteristcs and common themes of disparities-reducing activities.
Useful Links
- Improving Patient Safety Systems for Patients With Limited English Proficiency: A Guide for Hospitals
This guide helps hospital leaders learn how to identify, report, monitor and prevent medical errors among patients with Limited English Proficiency. - TeamSTEPPS® Enhancing Safety for Patients With Limited English Proficiency Module
This TeamSTEPPS® LEP module provides an evidence-based teamwork system to reduce medical errors for patients with Limited English Proficiency. - Key Findings from the 2011 National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Reports
This fact sheet from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality highlights data specific to disparities in care among ethnic groups. Review an additional fact sheet on disparities among minority women. - Alliance for Health Reform Toolkit
This free toolkit, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and written by the non-profit health policy educational group Alliance for Health Reform, includes background information, fact sheets, links to valuable resources and other expert sources on policy changes affecting those with mental illness. - Roots of Health Inequity - Continuing Education
This free course from the National Association of County and City Health Officials is the first comprehensive web-based curriculum around health inequity. It provides an online learning environment from which to explore root causes of inequity in the distribution of disease, illness, and death. Participants in this course will explore concepts and strategies by working through five units that describe different aspects of social justice as they relate to public health. - Member Innovations
Find out how members are innovating improved care to address health disparities. - Aligning Forces for Quality
Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) is the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) signature effort to lift the overall quality of health care in targeted communities, reduce racial and ethnic disparities and provide models for national reform. - Expecting Success: Excellence in Cardiac Care
Expecting Success is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) intended to improve the quality of health care provided to minority populations in the United States. - Speaking Together: National Language Services Network
Speaking Together: National Language Services Network is a national program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation aimed at improving the quality and availability of health care language services for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). - National Council on Interpreting in Health Care
The National Council on Interpreting in Health Care is a multidisciplinary organization based in the United States whose mission is to promote culturally competent professional health care interpreting as a means to support equal access to health care for individuals with limited English proficiency. - DiversityRx
DiversityRx is a clearinghouse of information on how to meet the language and cultural needs of minorities, immigrants, refugees and other diverse populations seeking health care. - American Hospital Association's Institute for Diversity in Health Management
The Institute for Diversity in Health Management is committed to expanding health care leadership opportunities for ethnically, culturally, and racially diverse individuals, and increasing the number of these individuals entering and advancing in the field. - Massachusetts General Hospital's Disparities Solution Center
The Massachusetts General Hospital's Disparities Solution Center is dedicated to the development and implementation of strategies that advance policy and practice to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. - The Office of Minority Health
The mission of the Office of Minority Health (OMH) is to improve and protect the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will eliminate health disparities. - The Joint Commission: Hospitals, Language, and Culture (PDF)
The Joint Commission's Hospitals, Language, and Culture: A Snapshot of the Nation (HLC) study was designed to gather information about the activities hospitals are undertaking to address cultural and language needs among an increasingly diverse patient population. Building on The Joint Commission's knowledge of hospital infrastructure and existing survey process design, the HLC study collected data that accurately represents hospital practice.