December 8, 2006

New Racial and Ethnic Disparities Dashboard

The MGH Committee on Racial and Ethnic Disparities Quality Subcommittee has completed its first Racial and Ethnic Disparities Dashboard, an internal quality report on key quality indicators at the MGH stratified by race and ethnicity. Compiled by Robin M. Weinick, PhD, of the MGH Institute for Health Policy, and Amy L. Giuliano, MPH, of MGH Data Analysis and Reporting, and under the auspices of Elizabeth Mort, MD, MGH associate chief medical officer, the report will be released annually.

"The Disparities Dashboard points out useful data, including the distribution of race and ethnicity among the MGH patient population and the resources and quality of care each population receives," says Joseph R. Betancourt, MD, MPH, co-chair of the MGH Committee on Racial and Ethnic Disparities. "This allows us to measure the equity of the care we provide to minority patients and identify areas where we are doing well and where we need to improve."

According to the dashboard, there was no evidence of disparities in the care of minority cardiac patients, and African American, Latino and Asian women who were linked to a primary care provider had slightly higher rates of screenings for breast and cervical cancer than white women. While there was no evidence of disparities in diabetes care among all MGH patients who were linked to a primary care provider, at the MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center, it was reported that 41 percent of Latino diabetics had poor blood sugar control, compared to only 23 percent of white
diabetics. In response to this finding, the Chelsea Diabetes Disparities Program was established as a quality improvement and disparities reduction intervention
program targeting poorly controlled diabetic patients. With an emphasis on Latino diabetic patients, the program is based on a culturally competent disease management model involving both individual coaching and group visits.

"We are proud of all our hard work on this, and are pleased to say the dashboard is among only a few in the nation," says Weinick. "It's a testament to the leadership
of Dr. Peter L. Slavin and the vision of Dr. Elizabeth Mort, Dr. Gregg Meyer and others on the Quality Subcommittee."

For more information, visit www.mghdisparitiessolutions.org.