Diversity, equity and inclusion at CMH in 2024
A lot of the work to improve inclusion and equity at CMH has been in the works behind the scenes. Read a recap of the work that has been done and the measurable improvements we saw in 2024.
Charting for Gender Identity
The CMH Patient Experience and IT teams worked with Cerner since 2021 to improve identity and preference charting.
A request was put in with Cerner in October of 2021 to add pronouns, preferred name and additional gender options to the chart. CMH was the first out of all Cerner Community Works hospitals to ask for these changes. In early 2024, over two years later, Cerner finally responded to the requests by adding pronoun and preferred name fields into the chart.
They also announced that soon, regulatory changes will require them to follow SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) terms in the chart. We are hopeful that this change will include additional gender options, as well as an anatomical inventory.
These changes will make passing on patient identities easier for caregivers, as well as improve respect for and accurate health care treatment of all people at CMH, thus improving person-centered care.
Hispanic Patient Experience at CMH
As we analyzed our experience data, we saw variances in the way people said they experienced health care. One of those variances was a difference in several data points among the Hispanic or Latino population. We set out to find out more about how we could improve the experience at CMH for this population.
PFAC Hispano
Mariana Kirkendall began and is chair of the PFAC Hispano. This group meets monthly to discuss ways to improve health care for the Latino community. They have reviewed the data variances and given input on important co-design projects.
Interpretation
CMH doubled the use of interpretation services over the last year. This is due to caregivers being aware of the needs and preferences of patients, showing respect and compassion. Mariana worked hard educating and informing caregivers of the services available, as well as collaborating with vendors to ensure services are available when needed.
Forms available in Spanish
A new forms process was started in early 2024 to ensure documents and forms are available for patients in their preferred language. Consent forms are now readily available in Spanish thanks to the Consent Compliance Task Force.
The data we have been monitoring has improved significantly, and all the variances being tracked between Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients have been reduced and/or eliminated.
Preference and Identity Charting Improvements
In 2024, the Patient Experience department set out to improve the percentage of patients who have preferences and identities noted in their chart to help caregivers meet the needs and preferences of others.
Language
At the end of 2023, only 1.5% of CMH patients had a language other than English charted. According to census.gov and worldpopulationreview.com, 7% of Clatsop County residents speak a language other than English at home. To align closer with the demographic of our community, we set a goal to increase the percentage of patients with a language other than English to 4%. As of June 2024, we increased to 2.2%, leaving some additional room for improvement.
Religion
33% of patients at the end of 2023 had not been asked about their religious preferences, leaving only 67% of patients with this preference documented. We set a goal to increase patient religion preference to 71%. As of June 2024, we exceeded the goal, and more than 77% of CMH patients have their preferred spirituality charted.
Pronouns
Up until 2024, charting a patient’s pronouns was not an option in Cerner, so we ended 2023 with 0% of patients having pronouns charted. As of June, 14% of patients had pronouns charted in their EMR.
This work is due to our caregivers seeing the perspective of others and taking hold of the DEI and unconscious bias trainings that have been provided. A major kudos goes to the IT and Phreesia teams who responded quickly to requests for improving these metrics.