Work Group Charter
Disparities in care exist throughout the healthcare system, but many PPL organizations have not segmented their own health outcomes data by race and socioeconomic class so as to analyze the specific situations in which those disparities are occurring among their patients or members. Until they do so, they will not be able to understand the breadth and depth of the disparities or to develop strategies to address those disparities at the patient or population level. The goal of this Work Group is to enable payer, provider and life science CEOs to identify racial/ethnic disparities and manage the impact of prevention and clinical care on outcomes
Co-Chairs
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Carrie Byington, EVP, University of California Health
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Laurie Zephyrin, MD, VP, Advancing Health Equity, The Commonwealth Fund
Industry Adviser
Tim Suther, SVP & General Manager, Data Solutions, Change Healthcare
Work Group Partner
Work Group Fellows
Kim Bobitski, GuideWell
Tosan Boyo, John Muir Health
Carrie Byington, University of California Health
Scott Doniger, DaVita Inc.
Nzinga Harrison, MD, Eleanor Health
Steve Miff, PhD, Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation
Nwando Olayiwola, MD, Humana, Inc.
Mark Smith, MD, California Health Care Foundation
Tim Suther, Change Healthcare
Laurie Zephyrin, MD, The Commonwealth Fund
Industry Pledge to Accelerate Greater Health Equity by Collecting, Stratifying, and Reviewing REaLS Data Across Top Quality and Access Metrics
REaLS Data Gaps a Significant Barrier to Addressing Health Disparities
There is substantial variation and gaps in the collection, stratification, and review of race, ethnicity, language, and sex (REaLS) data across and within payer, provider, and life sciences sectors. These gaps limit awareness and the ability to implement equity-focused interventions and establish accountability mechanisms that strategically address health disparities by these demographic segments.
More Complete REaLS Data Will Accelerate Health Equity Progress
The Health Evolution Forum Work Group on Leveraging Data to Improve Health Equity has identified increasing collection, stratification, and regular review of REaLS as a significant opportunity to embed equity into quality improvement and interventions. These actions will accelerate progress towards greater health equity in care delivery, the patient and member experience, and outcomes.
The Pledge to Collect, Stratify, and Review REaLS Data Across Top Quality and Access Metrics
To address variation and gaps in the collection, stratification, and review of demographic data and related disparities, Forum and other organizations will pledge to, in the next three years:
- Collect REaLS data for at least 50% of the organization’s patient, member, or customer population.
- Stratify and regularly review these collected data by the top-priority quality or access metric for 90% of major business lines and/or departments/divisions of adequate size.
- Participate in the Health Evolution Health Equity Learning Lab by sharing stratified data for select measures to facilitate anonymized benchmarking and to identify best practices for reducing disparities.
Endorse the pledge here:
View Pledge FAQ here.
Learn more about Pledge supporters leading this effort here.
What to expect when you endorse the pledge:
Committing to the pledge’s efforts and targets
Providing annual data and updates on your organization’s pledge progress
Accessing repository to have better visibility into disparity areas
Receiving pledge implementation resources and support from the Health Evolution Forum
For additional details, see the full pledge here.
Additional questions about endorsement?
Contact Lesley Bristol at lesleyb@healthevolution.com.
