Why It Is Important
An assessment performed by the Institute of Medicine found that disparities in health care exist and are associated with poor health outcomes. Given that there are long-standing and significant racial and ethnic disparities in access to and quality of healthcare in our country, our goal at Hendricks Regional Health is to improve access to care and identify and eliminate disparities in healthcare in our region.
CMS released an updated framework to advance health equity, expand coverage, and improve health outcomes. The "Hospital Commitment to Health Equity" measure was mandatory beginning with CMS's 2023 reporting requirements. CMS states this structural measure assesses hospital commitment to health equity using a suite of equity-focused organizational competencies aimed at achieving health equity for racial and ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, individuals with limited English proficiency, rural populations, religious minorities, and people living near or below poverty level. Hospitals must attest to activities within five domains: strategic planning, data collection, data analysis, quality improvement and leadership engagement. The chart below shows how Hendricks Regional Health scored in these five areas.