Disparity dashboards: an evaluation of the literature and framework for health equity improvement

Jack Gallifant, Laboratory for Computational Physiology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. Electronic address: jgally@mit.edu.
Emmett Alexander Kistler, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
Luis Filipe Nakayama, Laboratory for Computational Physiology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, São Paulo Federal University, São Paulo, Brazil.
Chloe Zera, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
Sunil Kripalani, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
Adelline Ntatin, Department of Health Equity, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Leonor Fernandez, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
David Bates, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Irene Dankwa-Mullan, Merative & Center for AI, Research, and Evaluation, IBM Watson Health, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Health Policy and Management, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
Leo Anthony Celi, Laboratory for Computational Physiology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

11-1-2023

Journal

The Lancet. Digital health

Volume

5

Issue

11

DOI

10.1016/S2589-7500(23)00150-4

Abstract

The growing recognition of differences in health outcomes across populations has led to a slow but increasing shift towards transparent reporting of patient outcomes. In addition, pay-for-equity initiatives, such as those proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, will require the reporting of health outcomes across subgroups over time. Dashboards offer one means of visualising data in the health-care context that can highlight essential disparities in clinical outcomes, guide targeted quality-improvement efforts, and ultimately improve health equity. In this Viewpoint, we evaluate all studies that have reported the successful development of a disparity dashboard and share the data collected and unintended consequences reported. We propose a framework for systematic equality improvement through incentivisation of the collecting and reporting of health data and through implementation of reward systems to reduce health disparities.

Department

Health Policy and Management

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