Disparities in Hospital Care

The Maryland Health Improvement and Disparities Reduction Act of 2012 created by HB 439 and SB 234 requires each nonprofit hospital to submit an annual community benefit report to HSCRC detailing the community benefits provided by the hospital during the preceding year. The community benefit report shall include:

• The mission statement of the hospital
• A list of initiatives that were undertaken by the hospital
• The cost to the hospital of each community benefit initiative
• A description of efforts taken to evaluate the effectiveness of each community benefit initiative
• A description of gaps in the availability of specialist providers to serve the uninsured in the hospital
• A description of the hospital’s efforts to track and reduce health disparities in the community that the hospital serves.

The HSCRC has been collecting Community Benefit Reports since 2004 and has a standing Community Benefits Advisory Group that meets several times a year to review and implement any changes to the program. The HSCRC will review feedback from the Maryland Health Disparities Collaborative Workgroups established by the Department, and the Hospital Race and Ethnicity Disparities Work Group, established by the HSCRC and present the information received from these workgroups to the Community Benefits Advisory Group to determine the best method for collecting the required information.

Please click here for the Community Benefits Program webpage.

The Act also requires the HSCRC to

• Study the feasibility of including racial and ethnic performance data tracking in quality incentive programs
• Report to the General Assembly on or before January 1, 2013, data by race and ethnicity in quality incentive programs where feasible
• Submit a report on or before January 1, 2013, to the Governor and in accordance with §2-1246 of the State Government Article, the General Assembly that explains when data cannot be reported by race and ethnicity and describes necessary changes to overcome those limitations.

The HSCRC convened the Hospital Race and Ethnicity Disparities Work Group to meet the requirements of the legislation and review the recommendations from the Maryland Health Disparities Collaborative Workgroups, established by the Department.

The HSCRC provided funding to support training of hospital staff on best practices in race and ethnicity data colletion by an independent entity, the Center on Health Disparities at Adventist HealthCare, which was conducted between April and July of 2013.

Please click here for the roster of the HSCRC Hospital Race and Ethnicity Disparities Work Group.

HSCRC Reports

Disparity Data Collection Report to Governor and Legislature - January 2013

Data Collection Training

Race Ethnicity Data Collection Training AHC Report July 2013
Statewide Data Collection Training July 26 Handout
Race Ethnicity Data Collection Resource Handout OMB Race Ethnicity Catetories
Race Ethnicity Data Collection Training Role Plays
Race Ethnicity Data Collection Role Plays

Webinar: Patient Race, Ethnicity, and Language Hospital Data Collection conducted on 7/26/13.
Note: The file is in Windows Media Video format (.wmv). Once opened and playing, Save the file in order to download.