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Welcome

Welcome to the Disparities Solutions Center (DSC) website, and thank you for your interest in our work. The DSC is dedicated to the development and im plementation of strategies that advance policy and practice to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The Disparities Solutions Center will achieve this mission by:

  • Serving as a change agent by developing new research and translating innovative research findings into policy and practice

  • Developing and evaluating customized policy and practice solutions for health care providers, insurers, educators, community organizations, and other stakeholders

  • Providing education and leadership training to expand the community of skilled individuals dedicated to eliminating health care disparities

Our goal is to move beyond research and begin to take action—by developing and disseminating models for identifying and addressing racial and ethnic disparities in health care nationally, regionally, and locally. Through our work, we hope to move all healthcare stakeholders one step forward – and closer to eliminating racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare.

Composed of a multidisciplinary group of health policy experts, health services researchers and physicians, the DSC opened in July of 2005 with initial funding from Massachusetts General Hospital and Partners HealthCare System. It is housed within the MGH Institute for Health Policy and affiliated with MGH and Harvard Medical School’s Department of Medicine.

For more information on how the DSC is working to assure equitable, high quality health care for all, please browse through our website. Thank you.

Recent Updates from the DSC

Announcements from the Center -

Annual YWCA Stand Against Racism Event
On Thursday, April 23rd, 2013, the Disparities Solutions Center, the Multicultural Affairs Office, and the Center for Community Health Improvement will join forces to host this year’s Annual YWCA Stand Against Racism Event. The Stand Against Racism™ is a movement that was initiated by the YWCA in 2008 in order to raise awareness and educate audiences of the racism that still exists in our communities. Organizations across the United States are invited to become Participating Sites by hosting their own "Stand." The objective of these "Stands" is to bring organizations around the nation together to unite and eliminate racism. We expect this event to be both educational and exciting. To learn more about this event or to RSVP, please go to our events page.

Disparities Leadership Program - 2013-2014 Application Cycle Extended! The Disparities Leadership Program is a yearlong executive education program for leaders from hospitals, health plans and other health care organization who wish to implement practical strategies to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care, particularly through quality improvement. The application cycle for 2013-2014 has been extended. For more information on the application process, please visit our DLP web page.

The Healthcare Quality and Equity Action Forum Videos Posted!
The Healthcare Quality and Equity Action Forum served as a dissemination and implementation conference developed and led by The Disparities Solutions Center (DSC) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), as well as alumni from the Disparities Leadership Program, which the DSC developed and oversees. The Forum targeted leaders that are active in health care delivery and focus on quality improvement (including those from health plans, hospitals, and health centers across the country). It provided participants with the tools and skills to identify and address racial and ethnic disparities in health care within their organizations, with the goal of empowering them to implement these strategies and transform their organizations to focus on quality and equity. Three sessions from The Healthcare Quality and Equity Action Forum have been recorded and made available on YouTube for public viewing. Please go to our Forum page to view the descriptions and watch the videos.

Free Tools to Identify and Prevent Medical Errors in Patients with Limited-English Proficiency Approximately 24 million people--8.5% of the U.S. population--are defined as having Limited English Proficiency (LEP).  Research suggests that among those who experience medical errors, LEP patients are more likely to be harmed, the harm is more likely to be serious, and the cause of harm is more frequently due to communication errors. To date there has been no specific guidance or tools to assist healthcare organizations to prevent medical errors in patients with limited-English proficiency. With support from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a new Hospital Guide and TeamSTEPPS training tools have been developed for exactly this goal. Learn more about the Hospital Guide and TeamSTEPPS tools on our Resources page or to view the tools, click here. To view the web seminar that accompanied these tools, please go to our Archived Web Seminars page.

Unequal Treatment in the US: Lessons and Recommendations for Cancer Care Internationally
In the Journal of Pediatric Hematology Oncology
Dr. Joseph Betancourt and Ms. Megan Renfrew of the DSC have published a paper proposing a patient-based approach to cross-cultural cancer care, focusing primarily on community-based interventions and the role of patient navigators.

Commissioned Paper: Healthcare Disparities Measurement
Supported by the National Quality Forum
The DSC has recently published a commissioned paper on race, ethnicity and language data collection and measurement. To learn more about this paper, go to our Resources page.