HUNTINGTON HOSPITAL
1. Top 10 Disparities
The following table lists the ten largest health equity disparities identified for this reporting period.
Disparities for each hospital equity measure are identified by comparing the rate ratios by stratification groups. Rate ratios are calculated differently for measures with preferred low rates and those with preferred high rates. Rate ratios are calculated after applying the California Health and Human Services Agency's "Data De-Identification Guidelines (DDG)," dated September 23, 2016.
The table below highlights the ten widest health equity disparities identified by hospitals and hospital systems during this reporting period. Measure names have been shortened for display purposes. To view each measure in full, please download the complete Hospital Equity Report using the link below.
| Measure | Stratification | Stratification Group | Stratification Group Rate | Reference Group | Reference Rate | Rate Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1.
HCAI 30-Day readmission
|
Age (excluding maternal measures) | 65 and older | 14.1% | 18 to 34 | 7.2% | 1.90 |
|
2.
HCAI 30-Day readmission
|
Age (excluding maternal measures) | 50 to 64 | 14.1% | 18 to 34 | 7.2% | 1.90 |
|
3.
HCAI 30-Day readmission
|
Race and/or Ethnicity | Black or African American | 16.3% | Multiracial and/or Multiethnic (two or more races) | 9.7% | 1.70 |
|
4.
HCAI 30-Day readmission
|
Expected Payor | Medicare | 15.8% | Private | 9.4% | 1.70 |
|
5.
AHRQ pneumonia mortality rate
|
Sex Assigned at Birth | Male | 58.5% | Female | 54.7% | 1.60 |
|
6.
CMQCC breast milk feeding
|
Race and/or Ethnicity | Asian | 41.7% | White | 62.2% | 1.50 |
|
7.
CMQCC breast milk feeding
|
Race and/or Ethnicity | Hispanic or Latino | 43.9% | White | 62.2% | 1.40 |
|
8.
HCAI 30-Day readmission
|
Expected Payor | Medicaid | 13.5% | Private | 9.4% | 1.40 |
|
9.
AHRQ pneumonia mortality rate
|
Expected Payor | Medicare | 57.1% | Private | 56.6% | 1.40 |
2. Equity Plan
The following action plans address our top ten disparities with implementation beginning in 2025 through June 30, 2026
All-Cause Unplanned 30-Day Hospital Readmission Rates: 2024 data indicate adults, 50-64, 65 and older, Medicare and Medicaid and Black or African American patients are at a higher risk for readmission.
In our Emergency Department we identify high-risk patients and make care plans to reduce readmissions. Our steps:
-Improve care transition planning for patients in our community needing extra help connecting with services upon discharge
-Enhance Case Management consultations through targeted discharge planning for high-risk patients with complex needs
-Increase our collaboration with our skilled nursing facility partners to improve communication and information transfer
Within the hospital we focus on safe, coordinated care transitions to prevent readmissions. Our steps:
-Provide patients with supplies of medication before they leave
-Help schedule follow-up appointments within seven days after leaving the hospital
-Enhancing discharge, transition plans that anticipate and address patient needs
-Improve patient education to help patients better understand their health, feel confident and manage their care
-Ensure Medi-Cal member support for medical, behavioral and social needs that promote wellbeing
In our outpatient settings we collaborate to improve outcomes for high risk groups. Our steps:
-Implement and improve Community Health Worker program by bridging the gap between the hospital and life at home
-Engage hospital leaders to identify improvements in our outpatient services for patients at high risk for readmission
Pneumonia Mortality Rates: 2024 data shows that pneumonia mortalities are higher among Asian, male, and Medicare patients within our community who are predominately older. Our steps:
-Enhance diagnosis to ensure effective treatment and timely follow up with a pulmonologist or primary care provider to improve outcomes
-Address sepsis treatment and prevention in pneumonia patients, through use of 'Code Sepsis' protocol in Emergency Department.
-Monitor sepsis outcomes using a 'Variations in Care' metric to identify and act on improvement opportunities
-Extend infusion times for certain broad-spectrum antibiotics to improve outcomes across all patients
-Improve penicillin allergy management and antibiotic administration times
-Refine blood culture practices to ensure accurate pathogen detection to significantly improve our diagnostic capabilities
-Provide sepsis awareness and prevention guidelines to nursing home populations
-Amplify community education events focusing on sepsis awareness for older adults and healthcare providers
-Continually educate our nursing staff to maintain our high standards of care
Exclusive Breast Milk Feeding Rates: 2024 data shows that Asian and Hispanic patients have lower rates of breastfeeding and a strategy to support breastfeeding is in place aligned with our certification as a Baby Friendly hospital since 2016.
Our Mother Baby Unit supports high-risk patients, providing breastfeeding support, including free breastfeeding courses for all patients. We ask birthing parents about their infant feeding goals upon arrival. While we're still working on tracking differences in these goals, we found breastfeeding rates also vary between providers. Our steps to best support families:
-Work to identify differences in breastfeeding goals by race and ethnicity at admission
-Compare feeding goals with actual feeding outcomes at discharge, looking for gaps by race and ethnicity
-Twice a year, we share breastfeeding rates with prenatal providers, showing how their patients compare to others at the hospital, individually and by practice groups
-Help more families start nursing and skin to skin contact within the first hour after cesarean delivery, key step in successful breastfeeding
-If we find differences in feeding outcomes, we will also review breastfeeding rates by hospital pediatric provider
Leaving the hospital can be a vulnerable time, especially for first-time parents. Most families have already decided how they want to feed their baby before arriving to give birth, but limited information, inconsistent communication from providers and lack of community support can affect those plans. Also parents often choose their baby's doctor before delivery, and that provider may influence feeding choices. Our steps to better support families in the outpatient setting:
-Check for differences in who attends our free prenatal breastfeeding classes, based on race/ethnicity and prenatal care provider
-Work to align the number of lactation educators in communities with lower exclusive breast milk feeding rates
-Add a Mandarin-speaking lactation educator to our prenatal class offerings
-Provide breastfeeding data, broken down by race/ethnicity, to our hospital affiliated pediatric providers to help improve support
3. Structural Measures
| Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Commitment to Health Equity Structural (HCHE) Measure | Yes/No |
|---|---|
Our hospital system strategic plan identifies priority populations who currently experience health disparities |
Yes |
Our hospital system strategic plan identifies healthcare equity goals and discrete action steps to achieve these goals |
Yes |
Our hospital system strategic plan outlines specific resources that have been dedicated to achieving our equity goals |
Yes |
Our hospital system strategic plan describes our approach for engaging key stakeholders, such as community-based organizations |
Yes |
Our hospital strategic plan identifies healthcare equity goals and discrete action steps to achieve these goals |
Yes |
Our hospital system has training for staff in culturally sensitive collection of demographics and/or social determinant of health information |
Yes |
Our hospital system inputs demographic and/or social determinant of health information collected from patients into structured, interoperable data elements using a certified EHR technology |
Yes |
Our hospital system stratifies key performance indicators by demographic and/or social determinants of health variables to identify equity gaps and includes this information in hospital performance dashboards |
Yes |
Our hospital system participates in local, regional or national quality improvement activities focused on reducing health disparities |
Yes |
Our hospital system senior leadership, including chief executives and the entire hospital board of trustees, annually reviews our strategic plan for achieving health equity |
Yes |
Our hospital system senior leadership, including chief executives and the entire hospital board of trustees, annually reviews key performance indicators stratified by demographic and/or social factors |
Yes |
4. Web Address for Equity Report
5. Download Equity Measures Report
Click on the link below to download the equity measures report.
Click on the link below to download all equity measures reports.