Niresha Velmurugiah1, Jagdeep Gill2, Brandon Chau3, Aida Rahavi2, Carol Shen4, Helene Morakis3, Jeffrey R Brubacher5. 1. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, BC, Vancouver, Canada. velmurug@ualberta.ca. 2. Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. 3. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Emergency Medicine Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. 4. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. 5. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, BC, Vancouver, Canada.
Abstract
PURPOSE: There is mounting evidence of racial and ethnic discrimination in the Canadian health care system. Patient level race and ethnicity data are required to identify potential disparities in clinical outcomes and access to health care. However, it is not known what patient race, ethnicity, and language data are collected by Canadian hospitals. This gap limits opportunities to identify and address inequalities in the health care system. The emergency department (ED) is a major point of contact for many patients accessing the health care system, and is therefore a reasonable place to conduct analysis of patient data collection. This study aims to quantify the proportion of Canadian EDs that collect patient race, ethnicity, and primary language data. METHODS: We identified all Canadian EDs and distributed a survey to 616 EDs across the country. RESULTS: We received responses representing 202 EDs (32.8%). One fifth (20.3%) of responding EDs reported that they collected race and ethnicity data and 38.1% collected primary language data. Reported uses for these data included quality improvement, research, and direct patient care. CONCLUSION: The majority of Canadian EDs do not collect patient race, ethnicity, and language data. This gap limits our ability to identify inequalities in health outcomes or access to health care. Lack of race, ethnicity, and language data also hinders our ability to develop and evaluate programs and interventions that aim to correct these inequalities.
PURPOSE: There is mounting evidence of racial and ethnic discrimination in the Canadian health care system. Patient level race and ethnicity data are required to identify potential disparities in clinical outcomes and access to health care. However, it is not known what patient race, ethnicity, and language data are collected by Canadian hospitals. This gap limits opportunities to identify and address inequalities in the health care system. The emergency department (ED) is a major point of contact for many patients accessing the health care system, and is therefore a reasonable place to conduct analysis of patient data collection. This study aims to quantify the proportion of Canadian EDs that collect patient race, ethnicity, and primary language data. METHODS: We identified all Canadian EDs and distributed a survey to 616 EDs across the country. RESULTS: We received responses representing 202 EDs (32.8%). One fifth (20.3%) of responding EDs reported that they collected race and ethnicity data and 38.1% collected primary language data. Reported uses for these data included quality improvement, research, and direct patient care. CONCLUSION: The majority of Canadian EDs do not collect patient race, ethnicity, and language data. This gap limits our ability to identify inequalities in health outcomes or access to health care. Lack of race, ethnicity, and language data also hinders our ability to develop and evaluate programs and interventions that aim to correct these inequalities.
Authors: John D Cowden; Gabriela Flores; Tiffany Chow; Patricia Rodriguez; Tracy Chamblee; Megan Mackey; Anne Lyren; Michael F Gutzeit Journal: J Racial Ethn Health Disparities Date: 2020-02-13