Connecticut is taking a new step to improve how hospitals and doctors collect information about patients’ race, ethnicity and language.
Connie, the state’s official Health Information Exchange, has launched a new software tool to check the quality of that data. The tool, called PIQXL Gateway, will review information shared by healthcare providers across the state and give feedback on how to fix problems.
State leaders say the effort is important to finding and reducing health gaps.
The project is supported by a grant from the Connecticut Health Foundation. In partnership with the foundation, the state Office of Health Strategy (OHS) created standards for how race, ethnicity and language data should be collected and used.
Health care providers connected to Connie already share patient information — including race, ethnicity, primary language, disability status and insurance status — when patients choose to provide it. But officials say the data is not always complete or accurate enough to clearly show where care gaps exist.
Tiffany Donelson, president and chief executive officer of the Connecticut Health Foundation, said improving the quality of this information has been a long-time goal. The state cannot fix health inequities if it does not measure them first, she said, and the foundation’s grant will help build the systems needed to collect and share the data responsibly.
Sumit Sajnani, a health information technology officer at OHS, said accurate data is key to spotting differences in care and shaping better health policy. Improving data quality will require teamwork across the health care system, he said.
Connie said the new tool will score data quality and show providers where improvements are needed.
The group has worked on similar efforts before. Over the past year, it partnered with hospitals, including Nuvance Health, which serves western Connecticut and New York state, to improve hospital discharge information. Some hospitals in that system now reach quality scores as high as 95% to 98% for discharge location data.
Jenn Searls, executive director of Connie, said better data helps providers deliver safer, more coordinated care for patients across Connecticut.
