STANFORD HEALTH CARE TRI-VALLEY

1. Top 10 Disparities

2. Equity Plan

Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley (SHCTV) is guided by our mission to heal humanity through science and compassion. We are committed to person-centered, equitable care that improves access, quality, safety, patient experience, and clinical outcomes.
SHCTV reviewed the top 10 disparities identified using the HCAI Hospital Equity Measures methodology and developed a comprehensive plan to address variation in outcomes and patient experience. As indicated in Table 1, the top disparities include eight related to 30-day all-cause unplanned readmissions and two related to exclusive breast milk feeding.
(i) Measure and Stratification Groups: Variation was observed in readmissions and mortality when stratified as required by HCAI requirements for vulnerable populations. Please refer to Table 1.
(ii) Reference Group: Comparisons according to the stratified groups in the HCAI methodology can be found for each disparity in Table 1.
(iii) Rate Ratio (RR): The table highlights the differences in risk of the event between the disparity group and the reference group. This is expressed as the Rate Ratio. Please see Table 1 for the RR of each disparity group identified.
(iv) Actions, Population Impact, Objectives, and Timeframes:
SHC Tri-Valley utilizes the Realizing Improvement through Team Empowerment (RITE) program to prioritize and implement performance improvement projects, while training front-line staff on improvement methodology. RITE brings multi-disciplinary teams together to work on clinical improvements in key areas, such as mortality, readmissions, length of stay, hospital-acquired conditions and infections, patient experience, and access to care.
SHCTV participates in the broader SHC Health Equity work that prioritizes quality improvement for actionable disparities in quality, safety, patient experience, and clinical outcomes. Stanford Medicine collaboratively developed a Health Equity Measurement Framework (HEMF) with internal and external partners to standardize data collection, stratification, analysis, and visualization. The framework enables identification of disparities, reduction in avoidable variation, and sustained improvements across populations. SHCTV will continue to apply the HEMF in fiscal year (FY) 2026.
Data Collection: We Ask Because We Care is a Stanford Medicine-wide initiative designed to improve the precision and completeness of patient-reported demographic data and educate patients, providers, and staff on why these questions matter. SHCTV will continue to leverage this initiative to better understand our patients' unique contexts that may impact their care experience and outcomes.
Readmissions: SHCTV focuses on reducing unplanned readmissions through RITE and Care Transitions Initiatives. For example, a recent RITE project focused on reducing readmissions through increasing scheduled follow-up appointments, improving patient/caregiver education, and transitions of care (TOC) pharmacy consults. In FY 2026, the HEMF will be applied across all patient populations to assess demographic patterns in readmissions, identify actionable variations in care, and develop interventions.
Exclusive breast milk feeding: SHCTV has partnered with the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative for improvement initiatives and data benchmarking, including stratified data. Through RITE, SHCTV recently improved the exclusive breast milk feeding rate while narrowing the gap among populations. In FY 2026, SHCTV will continue its work with CMQCC to identify and reduce disparities.

3. Structural Measures

5. Download Equity Measures Report

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

6. Looking for Related Reports?

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