Building Blocks Toward Improving Health Equity: Enhancing Data Collection

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase the collection rate of Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) data on an inpatient behavioral health unit by 50%, through an educational intervention and use of unit-based daily huddles. Background: The Institute of Medicine (2001) and Healthy People 2020 have addressed the need to improve health equity. Covid-19 demonstrated that health inequities in the U.S. persist and significant improvement work remains. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Joint Commission have created new standards for health equity, to include a hospital assessment of the patient’s SDOH and to identify and share information regarding resources and services to improve patient outcomes. Methods: This quality improvement project incorporated a Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) design (Langley et al., 2009; Frankel, 2017) within a single patient care unit, to increase participant involvement in increasing the SDOH data collection rates. Staff participated in a pre- and post-educational intervention survey to assess participants' knowledge of SDOH. A 30-minute educational intervention provided an overview of the importance of SDOH and included a discussion on the factors that help define SDOH, the impact of SDOH on health and health outcomes, and the rationale for data collection as a means for healthcare improvement for communities, including patients, their families, and the organization. SDOH data collection rates were evaluated weekly for a four-week period and results, as well as patient perspective stories regarding how SDOH impacted patients’ lives, were shared during daily huddles held each shift by clinical staff. Results: The pre - and post-education intervention survey data with 11 participants demonstrated generally positive results. A total of 42 admissions were included in this improvement project, and the average data collection rate improved to 73.4% over the course of the project as compared to the baseline data collection of 22.7% in the calendar year 2022. Conclusions This project demonstrated success in improving data collection through use of an educational intervention, emphasis on weekly data collection, results sharing at daily clinical shift huddles, and the collection and sharing of patient stories highlighting the impact that SDOH domains had on their lives.