Payers often lack information on members' race and ethnicity that can help to address underlying causes of health disparities and provide cost-effective coverage to members, according to Managed Healthcare.
In 2019, fewer than 25% of commercial health plans had race data for even half their members.
Challenges with collecting that data can include legal and privacy concerns, reluctance from individuals to self-report, hesitancy from healthcare professionals to gather race and ethnicity data and a lack of financial incentives or program requirements.
Here are five best practices to improve race and ethnicity data collection, according to Managed Healthcare:
- Analyze current data and collection practices: Find specific obstacles that may be stopping your organization from collecting data or using it effectively.
- Train staff: All staff collecting data should be trained on how to ask members for their personal data over the phone, virtually and in person. Data collectors should be able to communicate with patients about how the data will be used and protected.
- Be transparent: Members should know why the data is being collected and how it will be used.
- Collect and validate data: Ensure that collected data is accurate. All health plans should focus on collecting self-reported race and ethnicity data directly from members. When self-reported data isn't available, health plans should use only reliable collection practices and plan to begin collecting data directly in the future.
- Share outcomes: After using the data, health plans should relay success stories about how it improved care outcomes to employers and members.