Health Equity Change Package

CMS Health Equity Measures

Find PDF downloads of specifications and guidance for health equity from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) at the links below:

• Hospital Commitment to Health Equity Structural Measure Specification
• Attestation Guidance for the Hospital Commitment to Health Equity Measure for the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program
• Screening for Social Drivers of Health (SDOH) Measure
• FAQs for SDOH Measures

Organizational Assessments and Culture

Health Equity: A Business Case. What is the impact of health disparities? Health disparities can lead to poor patient outcomes and significant excess financial loss. A single-page handout from HSAG.

Building an Organization Response to Health Disparities. A toolkit from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Health Equity Organizational Assessment (HEOA). A downloadable form that assesses your hospital’s ability to identify and address health disparities. From HSAG.

Implementing Health Equity Roadmap to Success

Data Collection, Training, Validation, and Stratification

Improving Health Equity: Building Infrastructure to Support Health Equity. Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) webpage.

Reducing Health Care Disparities Toolkit. American Hospital Association (AHA) toolkit.

Achieving Health Equity. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) online course.

ICD-10 Z Codes for Disparities. From CMS, this PDF outlines the steps in using Z Codes.

Social Work Assessment. From HSAG, a checklist form.

Interventions and Quality Outcomes

Strategies for Equitable Care. From HSAG, this downloadable strategy tree of tactics, tasks, and tools, offers numerous options that coordinate with the Health Equity Organization Assessment (HEOA).

Health Equity Action Plan. This downloadable Word document from HSAG has examples that can be customized for use by your facility.

Impacting Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Toolkit. This downloadable HSAG document is designed for hospitals in rural and high-deprivation areas, where people are more likly to experience disparities related to SDOH. It includes strategies and links to resources.

Examples of Healthcare Systems and Addressing Health Equity:

• Building an Organizational Response to Health Disparities: 5 Pioneers from the Field. From CMS, the report includes several business cases.

Tools for Patients

Why Collect REaL Data. From HSAG, this downloadable flyer for patients answers frequently asked questions about why hospitals collect information on patient race, ethnicity, and language.

Why Collect REaL Data. (Spanish)

Zone Tools. Downloadable tools to assist discharging patients in managing a number of common health conditions.

Medicare and You Handbook. (English)

Medicare and You Handbook. (Other languages)

Resources

PFE Measures Checklist (PDF)

Hospital Admissions Flyer (PDF) 

Hospital Admissions Flyer (Spanish) (PDF)

PFE Metrics Hospital Coaching Package (PDF)

Teach-Back Training

Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) Roadmap to Success

For Patients

Zone Tools. Downloadable tools to assist discharging patients in managing a number of common health conditions.