Variability in collection and use of race/ethnicity and language data in 93 pediatric hospitals.
Cowden JD, Flores G, Chow T, et al. Variability in collection and use of race/ethnicity and language data in 93 pediatric hospitals. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2020;7(5):928-936. doi:10.1007/s40615-020-00716-8.
Language and cultural barriers can diminish patient safety. This survey of pediatric hospitals across the United States and Canada explored the use of patient/family race, ethnicity, and language preference data. While most hospitals routinely collected language preferences and patient race/ethnicity, parent or guardian race/ethnicity was collected less often. Few hospitals stratified quality and safety measures by race/ethnicity or language preference, which may hinder efforts to identify and eliminate disparities in care.