Source: The Pew Charitable Trusts
In addition, CMS should address health equity by encouraging providers to submit complete data—including patient demographics—to public health agencies so officials can understand how health threats are affecting different communities. CMS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology—the federal agency that oversees health IT—should continue collaborating to identify standards for electronically collecting and sharing more granular data. For example, that could include an individual’s race, ethnicity, and contact information, all of which can make it easier to track and respond to disease outbreaks among diverse communities.