Establishing common terms and definitions
Watch why a shared understanding of definitions is important
Vizient data reveals inequities in care
Disparities in health are intersectional. Vizient data shows not only disparities in COVID-19 diagnoses by race, but also with age – in fact, Black and Hispanic patients between 20-60 experienced greater disparities than patients over 60. Additional insights from Vizient data show:
- Non-compliance documentation disproportionately impacts African-Americans more than Caucasians and is positively correlated with increasing economic insecurity.
- Both African-American and Caucasians who have documented non-compliance codes suffer worse healthcare outcomes than those without a code.
The patent-pending Vizient Vulnerability Index™ identifies social needs and obstacles to care in neighborhoods that may influence a person's overall health. View the Vizient Vulnerability Index public access report for a snapshot of the insights available.
Empower full community health potential, where no one is disadvantaged due to circumstance
Health equity is the state in which everyone has the opportunity to attain full health potential and no one is disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or any other socially defined circumstance1.
Advancing health equity is both a moral and business imperative for health systems. The Vizient Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Benchmarking Study, which surveyed 76 health systems representing 33 states, revealed that healthcare organizations are working quickly to define their scope of ambition to address SDOH and improve health equity for the communities they serve.
Vizient is equipping members with the data, metrics and resources they need to make empowered decisions to inform this very important work.
1 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice; Committee on Community-Based Solutions to Promote Health Equity in the United States; Baciu A, Negussie Y, Geller A, et al., editors. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2017 Jan 11. Key Terms. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK425851/
Leadership education
The Health Equity Leadership Education Series reinforces why Health Equity is important for our members and features Vizient experts sharing strategies to advance health equity.
A primer for key terms
Review the key definitions of health equity terms for common understanding
The intersection of health equity, inclusion, diversity and belonging
Watch to understand how advancing health equity increases inclusion, diversity and belonging in your community.
Making health equity a strategic priority
See how health equity impacts patient and community well-being and why Vizient members are making it a strategic priority in our first educational event in the series.
Supplier diversity
Our members are committed to economic development through greater supplier choice. They look to us to engage with certified minority, women and veteran business enterprises and registered small businesses that meet high quality standards to help them fulfill purchasing and healthier community goals.
Clinical Data Base
The Vizient Clinical Data Base (CBD) is the definitive healthcare analytics platform for performance improvement. CDB provides high-quality, accurate and transparent data on patient outcomes that enable hospitals to benchmark against peers; identify, accelerate and sustain improvements; reduce variation; and expedite data collection to fulfill agency reporting requirements.
Want to learn more?
IHI Forum 2022 Innovation Theater sponsored presentation by Heather Blonsky and Tyler Peterson
Watch the presentationAfter pledging to advance health equity within its system by eliminating racial biases that contribute to disparate outcomes, the chief health equity officer at one academic health system joined the Vizient Health Equity Strategy Accelerator. Participants used the newly released Health Equity Strategy Alignment Tool and the patent pending Vizient Vulnerability Index™ to see how community vulnerabilities vary by zip code and how they impact patient health outcomes and utilization. As a result, the health system can now identify specific obstacles to care as well as test actionable interventions.
Read the public case studyThis article, “The Importance of Social Determinants of Health and the Stigma of African-American Bias,” was developed by looking at non-compliance codes in the CDB and its potential as a social determinant of health. A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed to examine the associations of patient and encounter characteristics with the coding of patient noncompliance. This study suggests that coding of noncompliance is associated with factors that are difficult for patients to modify. Factors related to noncompliance reflect characteristics of the patient, their disease, providers/health care system, and socioeconomic variables. These same factors influence healthcare outcomes.
Read the full article in the American Journal of Medical Quality.
Data analytics on social determinants of health help identify how to improve access and equity
As a part of one large academic health system’s journey to improve patient access and health equity, their vice president and chief health equity officer joined the Vizient® Health Equity Strategy Accelerator to collaborate with leaders from peer health systems and access tools showing connections between community vulnerabilities and disparate patient outcomes. As a result, their team better understands the specific needs and vulnerabilities affecting their patient population.
Speak with our team of experts to learn more
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