Must See Health Equity Resources

Visit this webpage from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Health Equity Technical Assistance program to find resources that can help health care organizations take action against health disparities.

Visit the National Minority Heallth Month website to explore resources created for the April 2024 conference. The theme: Be the Source for Better Health: Improving Health Outcomes Through Our Cultures, Communities, and Connections.

In this report, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) describes the current state of enrollee-focused health equity data across CMS programs. The report also describes with the progress made to date and the future actions that will achieve CMS’s vision for health equity.

Here are quick, accessible resources to validate community demographic data. Use these links to validate that REAL data your organization has collected aligns with your community data.

Use this tool to validate that REAL data your organization has collected aligns with your community data.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Disparities Impact Statement is a tool that can be used by health care stakeholders to promote efforts to eliminate health disparities while improving the health of people from all populations that experience disparities.

Good communication is essential for improving access to health care that respects every patient's linguistic and cultural needs. This success story shares the strategies health care providers and staff used to reduce language barriers at Rankin County Hospital District, in Rankin, Texas.

Watch this recorded webinar to learn more about how to administer a standardized, evidence-based social determinants of health (SDOH)assessment. Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) representatives also share resources that can assist health care workers in billing for SDOH assessments.

These data equity principles provide a framework for a shift in thinking about how equity-mindedness throughout the entire data life cycle can shape and create more equitable data systems.

This resource is a framework to help foundation leaders comprehensively analyze their institutions’ impact in advancing equity.

This article explores how the Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center (TCC) for Health Disparities Research at Morehouse School of Medicine applied a "health equity lens" to health policy research, development and implementation.

The guide aims to help in the strategy development process with a clear understanding of which stakeholders to engage, why stakeholder input matters and how to engage stakeholders.

This website, a Human Impacts Partner Project, is structured around a set of strategic practices that health departments can apply to more meaningfully and comprehensively advance health equity.

This resource presents legal strategies and best practices to help policymakers, practitioners and communities improve health outcomes.

This plan outlines the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) efforts to reduce health disparities and promote health equity.

This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website provides resources and information on social determinants of health and how they impact health equity.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's SHARE Approach is a five-step process for shared decision-making that includes comparing the benefits, harms and risks of each option through meaningful patient-provider dialogue.

This website connects you to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) resources for social determinants of health (SDOH) data, research, tools for action, programs and policy. They may be used by people in public health, community organizations, research organizations, and health care systems to assess SDOH and improve community well-being.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) continues to work toward achieving health equity in testing its payment and service delivery models. This article describe future CMMI efforts, which includes developing new models and revising existing models to promote and incentivize equitable care and increasing its collection and analysis of equity data.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is abuse or aggression that occurs in a romantic relationship. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), IPV is related to serious health issues. This CDC website can help health care workers better understand IPV, and how they can help prevent it.

Child abuse and neglect are serious public health problems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains this website so health care workers can better understand chlild abuse and neglect. This CDC website also provides evidence-based strategies that can help health care workers prevent child abuse and neglect.

Elder abuse occurs when an older adult experiences an act that causes them harm. Abuse, including neglect and exploitation, is experienced by about 1 in 10 people, aged 60 and older, who live at home. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains a website that can help health care workers better understand elder abuse. This CDC website also offers evidence-based strategies that can help health care workers prevent elder abuse.

To treat patients’ social needs, we must first identify those needs. The American Hospital Association created this guide to help hospital-based health care providers, patients and community stakeholders determine how to screen and identify the socioeconomic challenges some people may face.

This whitepaper from TMF Health Quality Institute describes key social determinants of health (SDOH) and how they affect health outcomes. The whitepaper includes examples of how provider organizations and hospitals and community-based stakeholders can work together to address SDOH.

This article discusses ways to improve patient transfers from one facility to another. Effective transfers helps ensure that all patients have access to quality care.

This article, from Optum.com, explores how commercial Medicare Advantage insurance plans can address social determinants of health (SDOH), just as Medicare or Medicaid do. According to Optum.com, addressing SDOH requires an evolution in coding capabilities within existing documentation systems.

In this recorded webinar, subject-matter experts from ATW Health Solutions discuss the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care (National CLAS Standards). Among other things, participants learned how to develop a plan for implementing CLAS and get leadership support for that plan.

The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute developed the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps website to give the majority of counties in the United States the data to help improve health equity in their communities. The data provides a snapshot of how health is influenced by where we live, learn, work and play.

As this article reports, the medical community is increasingly recognizing how Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) can lead to health inequity. Indeed, SDoH are becoming a critical factor in payer and provider conversations about better managing health.

This guide, published by ATW Health Solutions, provides an overview of the National CLAS Standards.

This crosswalk aligns three sets of standards with the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Standards: the Joint Commission health equity standards, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid health equity measures, and existing Appendix PP long-term care regulations. Facilities can use this guide to evaluate existing efforts to achieve health equity and help determine new opportunities to advance health equity.

This intervention list, published by ATW Health Solutions, interventions that support Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS).

This guide published by ATW Health Solutions, provides an in-depth overview of Theme 1 of the National CLAS Standards.

This guide, published by ATW Health Solutions, provides an in-depth overview of Theme 3 of the National CLAS Standards.

This guide presents a comparison of Theme 1 of the National CLAS Standards with those from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, The Joint Commission and state regulations for long-term care facilities.

This intervention list, published by ATW Health Solutions, provides interventions that support Theme 2 of the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS).

This guide published by ATW Health Solutions, provides an in-depth overview of Theme 2 of the National CLAS Standards.

This intervention list published by ATW Health Solutions, provides interventions that support Theme 3 of the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS).

This guide presents a comparison of Theme 2 of the National CLAS Standards with those from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, The Joint Commission and state regulations for long-term care facilities.

This guide presents a comparison of Theme 3 of the National CLAS Standards with those from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, The Joint Commission and state regulations for long-term care facilities.

This report highlights how bolstering the civic infrastructure can help minimize structural barriers like policies, laws and practices that can create obstacles to social and economic opportunities for good health.

This study examined the association between perceived racial-ethnic inequities in COVID-19-related health care and willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

The updated data modernization strategy for 2024-2025 lays out priority work for the next two years to continue to improve our capabilities for early threat detection and real-time monitoring across all levels of public health.

This webinar from the Indiana Hospital Association focuses on how social behaviors can affect health, along with how to use Z codes to better track patients' needs and identify solutions to improve the health of their communities.

This guide will help health care workers implement an evidence- and consensus-based framework for improving patient outcomes and advancing health care equity.

This articles discusses how telehealth can lead to more equitable health care access by increasing access to cost-effective, culturally competent care for people living in disadvantaged communities.

David R. Williams, Ph.D., Harvard University, discusses his findings surrounding health disparities in major racial and ethnic groups, including disproportionate neonatal mortality rates, early onset health issues and life expectancy. He provides a brief history of racism in the United States and how it relates to current issues marginalized populations are facing.

This report makes the case that race must be central to the decisions made by policymakers, advocates and community leaders to close the racial health gap.

This brief highlights eight expansive health care proposals, ranging from a singular universal health care program to a Medicaid/Medicare buy-in option. The proposals vary in their policies but acknowledge the importance of increasing the expansion of health care coverage, premium subsidies and cost-sharing, and increasing health care access.

Listen to this ATW Health Solutions recorded webinar to hear from community leaders as they engage in a candid conversation about community outreach and health equity.

This article aims to shed light upon evident biases present in health care artificial intelligence (AI). The purpose is to acknowledge and draft strategies to address these biases to ensure that health care AI are ethical and when integrated, they can provide impartial and comprehensive health care.

Visit this ATW Health Solutions webpage to access educational materials health care leaders can use when training staff in how to collect Race, Ethnicity and Language (REaL) Data.

This brief summarizes how addressing social determinants through state and federal initiatives, Medicaid initiatives and provider activities demonstrates a positive effect on bridging the health care gap for low-income and marginalized communities.

This article pulls research from the National Institutes of Health and Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health that lays out health disparities that cause environmental, population and socio-environmental issues in indigenous communities.

This article discusses the effective, tested steps organizations can take to tackle their health inequities and disparities. It details how some health systems, such as Allina Health, have achieved impressive results by making health equity a systemwide strategic priority.

The Center for LGBTQ+ Health Equity (CLHE) was created to lead scientific inquiry into the physical, emotional and social health of LGBTQ+ youth, adults and families, and guide best practices for achieving health equity for this population.

This article, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is an overview on the importance of desegregated data in marginalized and underrepresented communities to better understand health disparities within subcultures.

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Culture of Health Program is proud to present a model, in collaboration with five diverse communities across the U.S., for developing community-driven health equity action plans. This page contains links to each community's completed plan, as well as lessons learned from the project.

This article frames the topic of health equity around COVID-19. With the understanding that the communities most affected by the pandemic are vulnerable populations, researchers have compiled findings from 13 different countries to address the issue of health equity during the pandemic.

This article summarizes progress made in the U.S. towards advancing health equity efforts between 1993 and 2017. Researchers found that while income disparities have worsened and measures of health equity/justice have decreased over time, the white and black gap in health has improved.

This National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Leadership Consortium recorded webinar explored opportunities to engage patients and families in care settings during the pandemic and system and policy approaches to improve health and health care equity.

This ATW Health Solutions recorded webinar discusses the role hospitals and health care systems play in decreasing health disparities to increase health equity.

This article includes information on improving health equity for LGBTQ+ populations and explores the different health inequities that this population faces.

In this podcast, host Desiree Bradley is joined by Lisa Sloane, the founder and CEO of More Inclusive Healthcare, to discuss common disparities in patient care, the importance of engaging with patients in the right way and what health care systems need to know about data collection.

In this podcast, Rise25 Co-founder, Dr. Jeremy Weisz, speaks with Dr. Knitasha Washington and Desiree Bradley about their approach toward a patient-centered health care system. They discuss the disparities within the system, how they help other organizations develop strategies for change and how they're working to create a meaningful system.

An equitable health care system is accessible and inclusive for all, yet few adopt an equity-centered design model that emphasizes inclusivity, cultural humility and empowerment. This ATW Health Solutions webinar explains this model, demonstrates its application and offers strategies to promote inclusive health care solutions.

ATW Health Solutions and Yale New Haven Health's CORE have partnered to enhance quality, safety and equity in health care by engaging patients and amplifying marginalized voices. This webinar will share insights and actions to promote equitable outcomes and eliminate disparities in the health care system.

This webinar explains how ATW Health Solutions supports Priority 3 of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Health Equity Framework by enhancing the capacity of health care organizations and the workforce to reduce health care disparities.

This ATW Health Solutions webinar explores how organizations can become high performers by measuring and benchmarking their engagement and equity practices and highlighting their importance in meeting new health equity requirements from The Joint Commission and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

In this podcast, host Desiree Bradley speaks with Dr. Lyn Behnke about her journey through misdiagnosis and a heart attack, emphasizing self-advocacy and symptom awareness in women's heart health.

In this podcast, Danielle Jones, the Director of Diversity and Health Equity at the American Academy of Family Physicians, discusses the organization's work in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the medical community.

In this podcast, Rachelle Zribi and Rachel Johnson-DeRycke, Health and Senior Health Outcomes Researchers at YALE CORE, discuss their measure development processes and patient and family engagement practices.

This podcast episode features patient partner Ashley Bates-Crowley. She shares her perspective of what meaningful patient engagement and equity looks like.

ATW Health Solutions has outlined factors that contribute to engagement and equity opportunities for 2CEERIAS, a research-based project funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

In this podcast, Nikki Montgomery shares the impact of inequities and bias in health care from a patient's perspective.

In this podcast, Kevin Wake shares his journey from patient to patient advocate. He explains how to provide a welcoming environment where patients and providers can come together collaboratively to drive change in the health care industry.

In this project, leading academic researchers and advocates working at the intersection of transportation policy, equity and public health identify opportunities for creating transportation systems that promote health and equity.

Several examples of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-sponsored initiatives that address health disparities with the goal of advancing health equity.

In this podcast, Dr. Myra Parker discusses her life's work to promote indigneous health equity and brings awareness to the physical and mental health disparities that impact indigenous communities.

Disparities in the quality of care received by minority populations is well documented. This two-hour, three-lesson course gives a structured process for identifying and eliminating health disparities.

Self-care interventions have the potential to strengthen traditional health care systems, improving outcomes for women and other underserved populations.

The Think Cultural Health (TCH) newsletter raises awareness of culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) in health and health care.

This report, released in 2024 from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Office of Minority Health, provides a summary of the quality of health care people enrolled in Medicare Advantage received across the United States the year prior, focusing on differences in patient experience and clinical care quality based on race, ethnicity and sex.

This fact sheet reveals the persistent inequities facing Black Americans, Hispanic Americans and other minority popluations. Lessening such health disparities requires deliberate and sustained efforts to address social determinants of health, such as poverty, segregation, environmental degradation and racial discrimination.

This cross-sectional study finds that Black or Hispanic Medicare fee-for-service patients with ischemic stroke had a higher likelihood of worse stroke severity after being admitted to an acute care facililty.

The findings in this report indicate that disparities in diabetes care exist for Black beneficiaries, dually eligible beneficiaries and those living in higher-poverty areas.

Gain insights from entities distinguished by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as Heatlh Equity Award Winners.

The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors funded six organizations from across the U.S. to implement Million Hearts® strategies among priority populations to reduce health disparities and improve cardiovascular health.

This resource gives instructions for hospitals participating in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains this website, which features the ways in which Prevention Research Centers help communities expand access to health care, increase physical activity, decrease substance use and address other health topics in rural America.

This article describes a quality improvement project undertaken to increase the percentage of patients who had a psychosocial assessment after being discharged from the hospital to a contracted skilled nursing facility.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) employs a multifaceted approach to enhance health care, using quality measurement, public reporting, value-based payment programs and health and safety standards enforcement. Read about CMS's mission to improve quality across the health care system.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced an updated framework to enhance health equity, broaden coverage and boost health outcomes for over 170 million individuals in its programs. The CMS framework focuses on reinforcing assessment infrastructure, fostering collaboration across the health care system for structural improvements and eliminating barriers to CMS-supported benefits and services.

For the CY 2023 reporting period/FY 2025 payment determination under the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program, hospitals will need to confirm that they engaged in the activities described in this Attestation Guidance Document during January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023.

This document shares information about the Screening for Social Drivers of Health Measure. The measure assesses whether a hospital implements screening for all patients that are 18 years or older at time of admission for food insecurity, housing instability, transportation needs, utility difficulties and interpersonal safety.

This document lists and answers frequently asked questions about Social Drivers of Health (SDOH) Measures used by hospitals particpating in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program.

Among other things, this final rule revises the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) for operating and capital-related costs of acute care hospitals.

Read about The Joint Commission’s updated National Patient Safety Goal for ambulatory health care organizations, behavioral health care and human services organizations, critical access hospitals and hospitals.

The majority of health care providers and payers are not ready to meet shifting health equity regulatory requirements, according to Ernst & Young's latest report. To compile its "2024 Health Equity Outlook," the accounting firm surveyed 500 health equity leaders across stakeholder industries: Providers, payers, life sciences, government and nonprofit/community organizations.

A study of the connections between environmental risks and health found that Black and Latinx individuals living in Austin, Texas, had an increased asthma-related health burdens due to increased air pollution levels. The study suggests that even small adjustments in air pollution levels can impact the frequency of asthma-related emergency care, especially among marginalized communities.

This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website provides information and resources related to cultural and linguistic competency in health care.

In the Community Engagement in Early Recognition and Immediate Action in Stroke (CEERIAS) study, researchers sought to find a way for people in high-risk neighborhoods to react quickly to stroke. Researchers used the results to create an educational program that prepared community leaders and patient advocates to recognize and train others in the community on the need to “Act FAST for Stroke.”

This report shares results of a continued study about how people in high-risk neighborhoods react to stroke. The study revealed barriers to care and identified promising tactics to overcome those barriers in predominantly Black and Hispanic Chicago neighborhoods.

This article discusses the need for greater clarity about the concepts of health disparities and health equity, proposes definitions and explains the rationale based on principles from the fields of ethics and human rights.

This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) resource guide links references, other resources and style guides to frame health equity and avoid stigmatizing language.

This center provides resources and training on cultural competence in health care.

This Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) toolkit identifies strategies and resources to improve health literacy and provide culturally and linguistically appropriate care.

The CDC Foundation offers different resources that expand on operationalizing health equity.

The National Association of County & City Health Officials' (NACCHO) training program is for local health departments and partners to increase their understanding of health equity and social justice, as well as improve their current practices. There are three training videos focused on the politics of health equity, intersectionality and stories from public health practitioners.

This article, from the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, discusses the evolution of health equity within the Healthy People 2030 Initiative, as well as strategies, interventions, measures and future implications for the policy and practice of health equity.

This free, five-module, online course, created by the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH) and Public Health Ontario, serves as an introductory course for public health workers and managers in building an infrastructure for knowing about health equity and how to practice it actively. The course is available in English and French.

This summary of a workshop convened by the Institute of Medicine's Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention examines income, race and ethnicity, and how these factors intersect with childhood obesity and its prevention.

This article, from the Journal of Physician Assistant Education, serves as an introduction to health educators and the role they can play in helping strengthen discussions of social determinants of health in physician assistant curricula and the influence it has on clinical care.

This article, from the Americal Journal of Health Studies, discusses the Social Cognitive Theory that offers a theoretical framework for diabetes peer education programs geared to Hispanic American women.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the Disability and Health Data System, an interactive, online source of state-level data on the health and wellness of adults with disabilities. Users can access information on five functional disability types: cognitive, mobility, vision, self-care and independent living.

Partnering with patients and community members to understand needs and preferences among people of color is an important step in improving health outcomes and advancing health equity. This report includes suggestions for how health care organizations can improve relationships with patients of color to inform program and policy design.

This guide, from the American Hospital Association and the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity, discusses dashboards that can provide health care leaders with the information they need to advance health equity, diversity and inclusion. A basic level dashboard can become more advanced to include measures related to supplier diversity, employee satisfaction and other areas of organizational importance.

This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention webpage provides guidance and resources to promote cultural humility and community engagement.

This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) webpage provides information on programs and partnerships to help promote health, prevent disease and strengthen cultural connections to improve health and wellness.

Visit this ATW Health Solutions webpage to learn about updated standards for collecting Race, Ethnicity and Language (REaL) Data. The Next-Gen Race and Ethnicity Data Collection Toolkit offers different educational materials and resources, including essential fact sheets, detailed guides and videos focused on changes to race and ethnicity data collection.

The Texas Medical Association and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have developed a course to help educate physicians/providers on how to use the CMS filing system to get paid for their work in screening patients for non-medical factors that impact care, such as food insecurity, housing instability or a lack of transportation. Those who complete the course earn 0.75 credit(s) in medical ethics and/or professional responsibility.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has outlined factors that may contribute to an increased risk for catching COVID-19 in certain racial or minority groups.

This resource helps data communicators and other data practitioners see how choices made about colors, shapes, words and representations in data analyses and visualizations can affect how people perceive the results, how change might be implemented and how that change will impact different people and communities.

This article provides resources and examples of bias-free language.

This resource aims to help change makers navigate resources focused on ending the pandemic, advancing equity and building a resilient, robust, sustainable public health system for the future.

This website provides multilingual health information for patients and health care providers.

This tool guide, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, provides strategies and resources to promote health equity and reduce health disparities.

This U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) guidance offers information on how health care providers can provide language access services for patients with limited English proficiency.

This Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) toolkit provides information and resources to promote health equity for individuals with mental illness or substance use disorders.

This organization provides reports and resources related to health equity, including reports on social determinants of health and health disparities.

This presentation discusses the unique challenges of at-risk acute stroke populations during COVID-19 and lessons learned from key strategies for developing meaningful patient and community partnerships.

This paper shares results of a study that suggests that changes in health care measurement should include the voices of those who are traditionally misrepresented.

Kellie Goodson, Chief Experience and Engagement Officer at ATW Health Solutions, presents this micro learning session about person and family engagement (PFE) as a key to organizational improvement.

Kellie Goodson, Chief Experience and Engagement Officer at ATW Health Solutions, presents this micro learning session about creating sustainable partnerships with patients, family caregivers or community members.

The Muslims spoken in this article were challenged in finding ways to help better themselves due to conflict of personal interest and Islamic values. The mesh between religion and medicine can help benefit many groups of people to feeling welcomed and more open to procedures and treatments by doctors.

This toolkit can enable organizations to implement the National CLAS Standards and improve health equity.

This website, from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, promotes education, continuing education opportunities, and resources to learn about culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS).

The CMS Office of Minority Health offers a comprehensive source of information on eliminating health disparities and improving the health of all minority populations, like racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, individuals with limited English proficiency, and rural populations.

QIN-QIOs will help providers develop a CLAS implementation action plan using the "An Implementation Checklist for the National CLAS Standards" checklist, developed by the U.S. Health and Human Services department.See pages 4-8.

This self-directed training course is designed for physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners. With growing concerns about racial and ethnic disparities in health and about the need for health care systems to accommodate increasingly diverse patient populations, cultural competence is a matter of national concern. This e-learning program will equip health care providers with competencies that will enable them to better treat the increasingly diverse U.S. population.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an updated framework to further advance health equity, expand coverage and improve health outcomes for the more than 170 million individuals supported by CMS programs.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid's health equity strategy will build on the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to advancing racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government, as described in President Biden's Executive Orders 13985 and 14091.

The American Hospital Association shares these videos to help hospital-based health care providers explore ways to address the social determinants of health that directly affect their patients' wellbeing.

The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) website, maintained by the American Hospital Association (AHA), houses reports and case studies, along with webinars and videos, on several SDOH characteristics. The AHA website also links to resources hospitals can use to better meet their community's needs while addressing health care disparities.

Where and how people live directly affects their heath. People experiencing housing instability have limited access to preventive care and are more likely to have infectious diseases and chronic health conditions. This website, maintained by the American Hospital Association, shares resources to help hospital workers better understand how housing instability affects health, and what they can do to ensure that people in their communities have access to affordable, stable housing.

People who do not have reliable transportation may find it difficult to access health care, which results in missed or delayed access to preventive health care services. This website, maintained by the American Hospital Association, shares resources to help hospital workers better understand how transportation issues affect health and health care outcomes, and what they can do to reduce transportation barriers in their communities.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services offers a 4-minute, animated video that explains when a proxy response is allowed for Social Determinants of Health items.

This checklist, from the Eastern U.S. Quality Improvement Collaborative (EQIC), can help hospital staff assess how well the hospital has incorporated health equity best practices in its operations.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it is finalizing policies to support primary care, advance health equity, assist family caregivers and expand access to behavioral and certain oral health care.

Health equity is a central focus of the Healthy People initiative. Healthy People 2030 offers tools and resources to support efforts to advance health equity and now features disparities data for many objectives. Health care providers and others can track changes in health disparities, over time, to see where the nation is improving and where increasing health equity efforts need to be improved.

Strategic collaboration allows rural organizations to combine resources and expertise to improve care and patient outcomes. This article shares the story of a strategic collaboration that surveyed community health needs assessments, provided technical assistance to community health centers and connected patients to food and housing, and much more.

This editorial provides an overview of rural health disparities and the healthcare needs of rural communities. The article discusses ways in which technology and artificial intelligence may offer needed services. Presents models and infrastructure necessary to implement improvements.

This report from the Texas Health Institute presents research findings that support recommendations for advaincing oral health equity in Texas.

This document answers frequently asked questions about billing codes for health care services that address the health-related social needs of Medicare beneficiaries.

This report describes a three-pronged framework for reducing the number of firearm injuries and deaths.

The November 2023 U.S. Playbook to Address Social Determinants of Health from the White House lays out an initial set of structural actions agencies are taking to collaborate and support equitable health outcomes across communities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) developed the Operational Framework for Monitoring Social Determinants of Health Equity to measure, assess and address the social determinants of health and health inequities from a cross-sectorial perspective.

This article discusses the nuances of health disparities and provides historical context. Additionally, the article delves into the intersectionality among health, socioeconomic status, power and gender.

This infographic provides a visual representation of data that reveals the persistent disparities in health and health care for Black people.

In its first health equity report, RUSH, a prominent academic health system, provides a snapshot of patient data that helped them identify health equity gaps and opportunities. Rush is located in Chicago, IL and serves a diverse patient population.

The article shares the results of a study about the systemic racism BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) experience when seeking long-term services and supports in the United States. The authors offer several recomendations for policy changes that could address this issue.

This brief examines trends in health coverage by race and ethnicity from 2010 through 2022 and discusses the implications for health disparities.

This article examines the emphasis on health equity amid public health crises and social injustices. Among other things, the authors propose a framework to distinguish between health equity and health care equity and suggest three criteria to use when determining which health care inequities are measurable, linked to health care outcomes and can be used by health care organizations. Note: You must subscribe to read the article.

The 2023 edition of the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report, from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, assesses the effectiveness of health care systems in providing safe, high-quality and equitable care.

This infographic from the Robert Johnson Wood Foundation differentiates equality from equity. The Robert Johnson Wood Foundation is a collaboration of policymakers, community organizations, and executives who share a common goal to tackle barriers to health, including poverty, power dynamics and discrimination.

The article explores the connection between social disadvantage and low health literacy (LHL) and examines how LHL is an explanatory factor linking social disadvantage, health outcomes, and health disparities.

This report from ATW Solutions provides an overview of data disaggregation. How can disaggregated data help to better identify how health care disparities are experienced in different population groups?

This brief provides new data on the number of Medicare beneficiaries with dental coverage, the number of beneficiaries who had a dental visit in the past 12 months and out-of-pocket spending on dental care. It also takes a closer look at the scope of dental benefits offered to Medicare Advantage enrollees in individual plans in 2021.

Is your organization or facility interested in implementing a mental health program in a rural community? The Rural Health Information Hub has created an easy-to-use online toolkit that lists links to seven modules to watch to learn how to implement a mental health program along with links to additional resources.

How do you know if you may be prejudiced against a certain group or person? This article from May 30, 2024, in Tech Target, explores implicit bias and how health care professionals can incorporate training for all clinical and administrative staff in their organization, facility or practice to help make everyone aware of what implicit bias is and how to work to overcome it to provide the best care to all patients.

This May 16, 2024, blog post from the Milbank Memorial Fund describes real-life scenarios where patients who did not speak English, and who needed crucial conversations with their health care providers, did not have those conversations because there were no health care providers who spoke their language. This blog post highlights the need for health care organizations to invest in professional interpretation services to ensure all patients, regardless of their preferred language, receive the care they deserve.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Office of Minority Health has released a new resource of health equity-related data definitions, standards and stratification practices. This resource clarifies differences in results that may arise when different data standards and definitions are used. Health care providers, states, community organizations, researchers, and others collecting and/or stratifying their health equity-related data can make use of this resource to align with CMS.

This study's findings indicate that, even among the highest-quality hospitals, dually-eligible Medicare patients had poorer health outcomes, but higher costs than other Medicare populations.

This guide, from The Center for Racial Justice Innovation, provides a summary of when and how to use racial equity impact assessments (REIA) and sample questions to ask in a REIA.

This video, from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), highlights the importance of health literacy and cultural and linguistic competency in effective health care communication policies and practices.

In this strategic plan, the National Institutes of Health explains how it hopes to grow and sustain diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) across all of the agency's activities. The strategic plan has three objectives: enhancing DEIA through structural and cultural change; implementing organizational practices to center and prioritize DEIA in the biomedical and behavioral research workforce and advancing DEIA through research.

Chronic diseases pose a significant problem in the United States resulting in substantial morbidity, mortality, disability and cost. The CMS Office of Minority Health has designed an interactive map, the Mapping Medicare Disparities (MMD) Tool, to identify areas of disparities between subgroups of Medicare enrollees (e.g., racial and ethnic groups) in health outcomes, utilization and spending.

Pharmacists at the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) 2023 Annual Meeting discussed the role of data collection and analysis in the movement toward health equity. Panelists emphasized that a variety of data needs to be collected, including race, ethnicity, language, SDOH, geography, disabilities, sexual orientation and gender identification information. All of these factors play a role in narrowing the gaps in health care.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has created a new state total cost-of-care model designed to enhance multi-payer alignment. The AHEAD Model has several goals: to collaborate with states to curb health care cost growth, improve population health and reduce disparities in health outcomes.

A new analysis of health and nutrition, conducted by a team from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, shows that social determinants of health (SDOH) significantly influence heart failure outcomes for people of color. The study also shows that patients with incomes below the federal poverty level face more challenges to overcome within the different categories of SDOH.

This guide from the American Hospital Association (AHA) describes the link between food insecurity and adverse health issues and outlines clinical and nonclinical approaches that hospitals and health systems can use to reduce food insecurity and the stigma often associated with it.

This webpage provides information on the causes and effects of food insecurity, ways to take action to provide food security and how to find food banks.

This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) webpage provides answers to commonly asked questions regarding elder abuse—what it is, scale of the issue, possible consequences and how to prevent.

Community health worker (CHW) programs may improve health outcomes, increase quality of life, reduce hospitalizations and cost of care. However, knowledge is limited on how to scale evidence-based CHW programs to maximize their public health outcomes.

This article describes a protocol that can help researchers select and implement Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) measures for use in research studies. The availability of recommended measurement protocols for SDoH will enable investigators to consistently collect data for SDoH constructs.

This article explains why the Chief Health Equity Officer is becoming a crucial voice in how health care workers understand and mitigate health disparities. This role blurs traditional health care spheres of influence and boundaries of hierarchies and silos.

Project 2VIDA! is a multidisciplinary collaborative of academic researchers, community members and clinicians who want to foster partnerships to reduce the burden of COVID-19 in Hispanic and Black communities across Southern California. This article explores how the collaborative was received by community members.

ATW’s REAL Data Collection Analysis Template helps health care organizations examine the completeness of their race, ethnicity, and language (REAL) data and uncover potential areas of improvement.

This video provides instructions on how to use the ATW’s REAL Data Collection Analysis Template.