Indiana University Health, Eskenazi Health and Community Health Network are launching the “We Ask Because We Care” campaign this month. The campaign highlights why it is important for healthcare organizations to gather patient information on race, ethnicity and language (often referred to as “REaL” data) and how it helps ensure that everyone receives the highest level of care.
“Health disparities are a very real threat to the health and well-being of the communities we serve,” said Diane McDaniel, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, Community Health Network. This is an important collaboration between our institutions to confront that challenge and Community is proud to be a part of it.”
“Without accurate baseline data about their race, ethnicity and language, it’s impossible to really understand the specific nature and drivers of racial and ethnic disparities in patients’ experiences and outcomes of care. It’s critical that we measure the size of these disparity gaps; and monitor our progress in closing those gaps over time,” said Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds, MD, vice president and chief health equity officer for IU Health. “By working together, we can help team members and patients understand why this information is so important to improve the quality of care and to move the needle on health equity.”
Having this information available on a broad scale will help the health systems know more about the communities they serve and the additional services they can provide to keep Indiana as healthy as it can be.
“The pandemic brought forth many challenges including re-emphasizing disparities of health that exist among our community,” said Angela Smith Jones, JD, vice president of diversity and inclusion for Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, for which Eskenazi Health serves as the public hospital division. “The ‘We Ask because We Care’ campaign is centered around providing the highest quality of personalized care by better understanding our diverse patent population and their unique needs.”
The campaign includes a radio spot that will run in both English and Spanish on Central Indiana radio stations as well as other informative materials that will be available in physician offices, outpatient clinics and surgery centers. Registrars also will soon be provided printed information to help patients request interpretation services in more than two dozen languages.
Learn more by visiting: