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Health Equity

Why It Is Important

An assessment performed by the Institute of Medicine found that disparities in health care exist and are associated with poor health outcomes. Given that there are long-standing and significant racial and ethnic disparities in access to and quality of healthcare in our country, our goal at Hendricks Regional Health is to improve access to care and identify and eliminate disparities in healthcare in our region.

Understanding Our Population

The most important first step in identifying and eliminating disparities in healthcare is understanding the populations you serve as well as their outcomes of care. Below is a demographic overview of our patient base through December 31, 2022. It comes from our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database.

In addition to analyzing data from our patient population, we look at our community at-large. For example, we participate in the Hendricks County Health Partnership and the community health needs assessment process in order to view data for our broader community in west central Indiana.

 











Examples of Efforts to Address Health Inequity

COVID-19 STUDY TO DETERMINE GREATEST RISK

Click here to view the results of a retrospective study, which began in the late spring of 2020. It sought to gather demographic, inflammatory biomarker, and outcomes data on COVID-19 patients that were hospitalized in the medical units of Hendricks Regional Health to understand the progression of disease caused by COVID-19 and determine which patient populations in their care were at the greatest risk for poor outcomes.

COVID-19 VACCINATION EFFORTS

Click here to view how Hendricks Regional Health is ensuring equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.

ATTAINING HEALTH EQUITY WITH PRESSURE INJURIES

Click here to read how Hendricks Regional Health promotes the highest level of pressure injury prevention for all patients.

ASSESSING HEALTH EQUITY IN FALL RISK

Click here to review the three tools Hendricks Regional Health utilizes to provide equitable fall prevention.

Learn More

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has assembled a resource with more information on health and equity. Read it here: What is Health Equity? 

We encourage patients and family members to use many of the different resources available to compare and choose a hospital or healthcare provider. Examples include Medicare.gov Care Compare and Leapfrog Ratings as well as talking with your doctor.