Video Presenter
Qiana Thomason, President/CEO, Health Forward Foundation
Thomason, a life-long Kansas Citian, has dedicated her career to the improvement of health and wellness across the region, with a special focus on communities with significant health disparities. Thomason comes to Health Forward from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC), where she most recently served as Vice President, Community Health and Health Equity. During that time, she spearheaded development of new care delivery and payment models in partnership with health care providers throughout Kansas City and has been a champion for the inclusion of health equity and the social determinants of health in corporate strategy.
Prior to her tenure at Blue KC, Thomason spent eight years at Swope Health as the Director of Clinical Operations, Behavioral Health and Program Manager of the multi-municipality Mental Health Court. She also served as Deputy Director and Health and Human Services Liaison for United States Senator Jean Carnahan.
Discussion and Reflection Questions
- Does the hospital/system have a health equity or anti-racism strategy? If yes, what does it entail and who (identities) contributed to its development?
- Has the board prioritized diversifying the board with people of color? If not, why not? If yes, what goals have been established and how are these goals being tracked and advanced?
- Does the hospital know the self-reported racial and ethnic identity of its workforce - clinical and non-clinical roles?
- How is the hospital using race, ethnicity, and language (REL) data, and sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in quality and performance improvement processes? How do we ensure this is collected with care, compassion, and in a culturally affirming way?
- How is the hospital/system working internally to assess, and externally in collaboration with cross-sector community stakeholders to address the socioeconomic needs (access to whole healthy foods, transportation, housing, etc.) of patients?
- How is the hospital/system (if non-profit) levering its Community Health Needs Assessment for health equity?
- What indicators will the board need to see and understand to ensure we are progressing in health equity?
- What are the tension points of health equity work for hospitals?
Suggested Activities
- Include health equity in your strategic planning conversations.
- Identify health disparities through your community health needs assessment — and then develop structure and processes to address those disparities.
- Collect equity-centered data around:
- Race, ethnicity, and language data, also known as R.E.L data,
- Sexual orientation and gender identity data
- Social needs information through capturing Z codes in patient assessment
- Diversify the health care workforce and pipeline in your community.
- Develop meaningful partnerships with community organizations.
Resources
Structural Urbanism Contributes To Poorer Health Outcomes For Rural America
Health Affairs, December 2019
Watch: The Bridge Parable / How the Kansas City region can achieve health equity
Health Forward Foundation, February 2022
Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2021
CMS Framework for Health Equity
CMS Office of Minority Health, Last updated April 2022
#123forEquity Campaign to Eliminate Health Care Disparities
American Hospital Association
Achieving Health Equity: A Guide for Health Care Organizations
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), 2016
Racial Disparities in Pain Management of Children With Appendicitis in Emergency Departments
JAMA Network, November 2015
Racial and Ethnic Disparities Continue in Pregnancy-Related Deaths
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, September 2019
Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care
National Library of Medicine, 2003
The Kansas City Health Equity Learning and Action Network
Health Forward Foundation, IHI, KC Health Collaborative, 2022