Health Equity
Health equity is quality.
When it comes to health, equity is imperative to the quality of care and health outcomes for all children and families. Our Patient Experience (PE) team, led by Chief Patient Experience Officer Peggy Greco, PhD, supports our journey toward the highest quality care and experience by ensuring the voice of the child and family is represented in policy and process development. The PE team partners with family advisory councils in addition to using routine surveys to gather critical insights which are leveraged into tools and direct support to improve the practices of our clinicians and staff.
Measure what matters.
To further eliminate disparities, the PE team began reviewing survey response rates and questions by race, ethnicity and language. While response rates were representative, several survey questions indicated disparities in patient experience with the largest gap stemming from language barriers.
The team developed a Patient Experience Health Equity Index using a composite score from the most disparate areas to track progress as improvement interventions were deployed. Throughout 2021, meaningful changes were implemented in our practices, resulting in a significant narrowing of gaps in communication and ultimately leading to higher quality, safer, more effective and equitable care for all families.
- Expansion of in-person interpreter teams and simplified access to interpreted care, including telehealth
- Discharge instructions available in Spanish, both after the visit as well as through the Nemours App
- Medication instructions and Nemours KidsHealth educational information available in multiple languages
- Multi-language signage in emergency departments to ensure families know how to get their questions answered
We’ve signed Health Evolution Forum’s Health Equity Pledge to be part of a systematic approach to identify, size and redress disparities in care delivery, experience and outcomes.
Rachel Thornton, MD, PhD
Vice President, Chief Health Equity Officer
Leading both the Office of Health Equity & Inclusion and Nemours Children’s Diversity, anti-Racism, Inclusion, Value and Equity (D.R.I.V.E.) Task Force, Dr. Thornton is responsible for supporting a richly diverse and inclusive environment for patients, families, associates and the communities we serve. She believes, “Nemours Children’s is charting a path toward realizing equity in child health for the children we serve and creating a blueprint to improve outcomes for all.”
