New resources in Health Care Equity Certification Resource Center
The Joint Commission regularly updates its Health Care Equity Certification Resource Center to help organizations meet the requirements to achieve Health Care Equity Certification. The resource center includes:
- Strategies: Links to resources such as toolkits, templates and guides.
- Spotlights: Brief synopses and videos of successful initiatives and practices to advance health care equity that have been implemented by other healthcare organizations.
Recently added were resources from:
- NorthShore - Edward-Elmhurst Health: Dr. Kimberley Darey, President of Elmhurst Hospital, and Jeff Zakem, System Program Director of Community Impact & Equity with NorthShore - Edward-Elmhurst Health, talk about their system’s efforts to identify and address community health needs, advance health equity, and support local economic growth through newly established Community Investment Funds. These funds support community-based organizations and programs to build capacity and expand community impact in the areas identified through their community health needs assessments and internal health data. Their goal is to use the funds to support efforts to lower barriers to care, address health-related social needs, and ameliorate the root causes of health disparities in their communities.
- Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA): CHA’s Health Improvement Team (HIT) works together with health care providers, residents, community-based organizations, and city leaders to assess health status, determine priorities, build action plans, and provide leadership around health issues that impact the community. The Joint Commission spoke with Doug Kress, CHA’s Chief Community Officer about the partnerships they have developed, and how these strong collaborations have enabled the development of community-based programs that increase access, improve health status outcomes, and respond to the needs of its patient community.
- HealthPartners: HealthPartners has a longstanding focus on health equity with a commitment to improve the health and well-being of each member, patient, and the entire community. HealthPartners collects and analyzes data to help improve care and eliminate disparities. In 2009, they identified a significant disparity in colon cancer screening rates between patients of color and white patients. A project was launched that used the Fecal Immunochemical Test (“FIT kit”) to boost the number of screened patients by enabling patients to send stool samples by mail. They achieved a 25% return rate; screening for patients of color increased from 43% to 67%.
Visit the Health Care Equity Certification Resource Center for more resources. Additionally, the Health Care Equity Accreditation Resource Center provides foundational resources to help healthcare organizations meet The Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG), effective July 1, to reduce healthcare disparities. To continue to learn from other organizations engaged in health care equity work, sign up for E-Alerts to be notified when new resources are added to both resource centers.