CMSHealthDisparities

THE OFFICE OF CLINICAL STANDARDS AND QUALITY

Initiatives from The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Office of Clinical Standards and Quality (OCSQ) address health disparities by integrating health disparities initiatives cross-functionally to increase the number of minority clinical trials to better improve the treatment and outcomes for underserved populations.

The Quality Improvement Group's (QIG) approach is unique from the other programs within OCSQ. For the first time, health disparities have been integrated across all Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program's 9th Scope of Work (SoW) Themes and Sub-National Task areas.

CMS' Health Disparities Program encompasses four components

• Data

  In 2008, Congress passed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) Section 185. This Act requires CMS to report to Congress effective methods for ongoing data collection, measurement and evaluation of health disparities by race, ethnicity, and gender. By improving the data collection, we can better pinpoint and address health disparities.

• Sensitivity

  In collaboration with Federal partners such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), we are increasing awareness about the lack of minority participation in clinical trials.

• Intervention

  We have implemented evidence-based intervention models that improve quality indicators for people with multiple diseases and health conditions in underserved populations.

• Messaging

  Health disparities messaging toolkits are available for medical professionals, local communities and the public to help them learn about these interventions, which will ultimately better educate their patients and Medicare beneficiaries about interventions to improve health outcomes.