BARTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

1. Top 10 Disparities

2. Equity Plan

At Barton Health, we have already begun a multidisciplinary deeper dive into the equity data to better understand where we can make the biggest difference and reduce gaps in care, with the goal of decreasing disparities for all patients, particularly those identified in the equity report. This work is in progress and will continue through 2026, with ongoing reviews to ensure we are meeting our goals. To address our top identified disparity populations of Medi-Cal, Medicare, and patients age 50-64, we have implemented a comprehensive plan that combines care coordination, patient education, social support, and community partnerships.

We are addressing our identified disparity populations through the following actions:
- Every inpatient is included every day in multidisciplinary rounds (MDRS).
- Every inpatient has an educational assessment completed and is evaluated by a case manager.
- Health literacy promotion through readback / teach back education.
- Translation and interpretive services for language and hearing barriers.
- Screen 100% of admitted patients using social determinants of health (SDOH). Using specific questions upon admission and discharge, we identify food insecurity, transportation and difficulty paying utilities as our patient population's most frequent challenges for our patients with Medi-Cal and Medicare.
- We refer patients to local food banks/pantries and soup kitchens (a list of these resources is provided in English and Spanish).
- We refer Medicare patients to paratransit for help with transportation to their medical appointments as well as certain Medi-Cal patients whose insurance plan allows. We also provide the local bus schedule and other local transportation options.
- For Medi-Cal and Medicare patients having difficulties paying for their utilities, we provide phone numbers of the utility companies' assistance programs (most have them). We partner with and make referrals to a community agency that will help our patients with certain expenses including utility bills. We also provide a list of local resources, in English and Spanish, that includes food banks, and other community resources that can be helpful to our patients.
- For patients whose plans do not offer home health care, we refer to the Population Health care managers for follow-up care when appropriate. Sometimes, we may keep these patients for an extra day in the hospital to ensure they have a safe discharge and to reduce the risk of readmission.
- We identify patients who will not qualify for Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) placement promptly and notify the patient care team so they can work on mobility and strengthening as soon as appropriate; we often keep these patients an extra 1-2 days to work with physical therapy on strengthening and mobility to ensure a safe discharge and decreased risk of readmission.
- For added support to substance use disorder (SUD) patients in our community, including Medi-Cal and Medicare patients, we refer to our community SUD program AND/OR refer to Barton's medication assisted treatment (MAT) program for medication assisted treatment, refer our patients to the substance use navigator for follow up post discharge, offer patients the option of the Sunshine Club from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) to visit the patient while in the hospital and bring them to an AA meeting. We offer these options to help support patients while they are waiting for an inpatient rehabilitation bed to become available.
- We partnered with our local homeless program, Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless, to provide services to medically vulnerable unhoused patients. However, the Tahoe Coalition does not provide emergency shelter for unhoused patients who are not medically vulnerable, so Barton has also partnered with South Tahoe Police Department for shelter placement and transportation within our County however those shelters are 60 miles away and over a mountain pass for our homeless patients.
- As part of our Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) initiative, we have made several enhancements to improve access to care for our patients. Some include expanding psychiatry department to include two full-time LCSWs to provide outpatient therapy.
- To better support continuity of care, hospitalists see patients for hospital discharge follow-up at our rural health center, which cares for underserved and uninsured patients.
- Population Health nursing team conducts follow-up calls with patients after emergency room discharges to check on how they are doing and are able to help resolve barriers to follow-up care and ensure they have timely access to clinic appointments.
- As part of the CHNA, we also have more addiction medicine appointments to meet the needs of patients with substance use disorders. One of our doctors is board-certified in addiction medicine and two others are sitting for their boards in October 2025.

3. Structural Measures

4. Web Address for Equity Report

https://www.bartonhealth.org

5. Download Equity Measures Report

Click on the link below to download the equity measures report.

6. Looking for Related Reports?

• Hospital Supplier Diversity Plan
• Hospital Profile
• Hospital Fair Billing Policies