Getting Started

Health Equity Checklists

Getting Started

There is no one right way to start your organization’s efforts to provide equitable care.

The following checklist will help your organization identify strengths and opportunities for improving the delivery of equitable care. It is intended to spur planning and dialogue; organizations interested in conducting a more formal assessment may find it useful to consider one or more of organizational assessment tools found in Must Have Tools.

Our organization....

	Collects information about patients’ race, ethnicity, preferred language, educational level, literacy level, and other characteristics that can lead to lower quality care.		See How The Health Research and Educational Trust Disparities Toolkit
	Provides interpreter and language services to individuals with language barriers (e.g., do not speak English, Deaf).		See How Speaking Together Toolkit
	Has trained staff on the importance of effective communication and ways to identify and access services for individuals with language barriers.		See How Communicating Through Healthcare Interpreters
	Has designed vital forms (e.g., consent) and patient educational materials with low health literacy and limited English proficiency populations in mind.		See How More Than Words Toolkit
	Administers and analyzes patient satisfaction surveys in languages other than English and assesses the feasibility of stratifying the data by race, ethnicity and preferred language.		See How CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey
	Has a grievance process that is accessible to all patient populations, regardless of language.
	Posts signage in the languages reflecting the communities we commonly serve.
	Collects the demographics of our community (e.g., census data) and uses the information to develop health services.
	Educates our leadership teams about health care disparities and health equity.		See How Improving Quality and Achieving Equity: A Guide for Hospital Leaders
	Assigns resources (e.g., money, staff) to provide ongoing support for efforts that improve the delivery of equitable care.

Looking for next steps? Go to the Making Progress checklist.