In September 2021, the esteemed Health Affairs organization published a significant paper in their online blog, titled “A New Effort To Address Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Care Through Quality Measurement.” The authors, from NCQA and beyond, focus on the strides being made in collecting accurate data on patient race and ethnicity, discussing current strides in parsing and disseminating that data to both federal agencies and medical institutions.

This year, NCQA  began rolling out race and ethnicity stratification in HEDIS measures, incorporating five measures across several key areas covering multiple product lines – with plans to build out even more comprehensive metrics in the near future. In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” we’re honored to welcome two of the article’s authors.

NCQA health care analyst Keirsha Thompson has spent her career trying to figure out how to break down the distrust of western medicine shared by so many minority groups…and what can be done to bridge those gaps in equity. She holds a B.A. in Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies from the University of Chicago, with a heavy focus on medical ethics and public health. She holds a license as a first responder, worked with a suicide prevention unit at a Native American clinic, ran classes in emergency medical response for the Red Cross…all while earning a Masters Degree in Social Work, Health Care Administration and Policy.

Latoshia Rouse is a CD (DONA): a certified doula with the non-profit “Doulas of North America - International”. Specifically, she is a birth and post-partum doula and owner of “Birth Sisters Doula Services.” She is also a patient engagement consultant with several state and national organizations, including the American Board of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as the March of Dimes and the CDC. Ms. Rouse's passion is helping parents develop their voice in the care of their children and helping medical staff learn from and make improvements in care based on the parent perspective.