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The National Health Plan Collaborative has created a toolkit of resources, lessons, case studies and videos to help other health plans identify and reduce disparities within their memberships. The toolkit will enable you to learn from the NHPC's work, implement similar strategies and make the case for addressing the unacceptable differences in health care and health outcomes for health plan members throughout the country.
The toolkit is hosted on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Web site and can be viewed or downloaded at:
www.rwjf.org/qualityequality/goto/nhpctoolkit.
Featured toolkit resources include:
- Health plan case studies;
- Sample tools, forms and policies related to implementation;
- Videos of experts talking about the importance of reducing disparities and about firsthand experiences in developing and implementing interventions; and
- A compilation of resources in this field.
The toolkit sections include:
- Introduction:
Answers to why disparities in health and health care should be addressed and a description of the National Health Plan Collaborative.
- Data Collection on Race, Ethnicity and Language Preference:
A summary of national and local policies on data collection; a description of why it is important to collect primary race, ethnicity and language data; and methods and tools the health plans have used for collecting race, ethnicity and language data.
- Language Access:
A discussion of why patient-provider communication is important; state and federal policies that affect language assistance in health care; how to plan for language services; how to implement interpretation services; how to provide materials in different languages; and how to ensure the quality of language access services.
- Making the Business Case:
Tools and information for making the business case for improving quality and addressing disparities in your health plan.
- Case Studies:
Examples of interventions, case studies and lessons learned from members of the National Health Plan Collaborative.
- Resources:
A list of resources and references used throughout the toolkit as well descriptions of the members of the National Health Plan Collaborative.
Other Resources
- 2013 Leadership Roundtable – National Health Plan Collaborative Poster Series: Health Care Equity
National Health Plan Collaborative members highlight innovative programs and services designed to reduce disparities in care and address the cultural and linguistic needs of diverse populations.
February 2013
- Creating Innovative Cultural and Linguistic Services to Improve Patient-Centered Care, poster presentation and information sheet
March 2012
- "Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care: Partnership between Employers and Health Plans" Policy Brief
by Patricia Collins Higgins, Melanie Au, and Erin Fries Taylor
July 2009
- "Measuring Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care: Efforts to Improve Data Collection" Policy Brief
by Patricia Collins Higgins and Erin Fries Taylor
May 2009
- "Improving Access to Language Services in Health Care: A Look at National and State Efforts"
by Melanie Au, Erin Fries Taylor, and Marsha Gold
April 2009
- "The National Health Plan Collaborative to Reduce Disparities and Improve Quality"
featured in the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, May 2008
- The National Health Plan Collaborative released its Phase One Summary Report on November 2, 2006 at the AHIP Medical Leadership Forum in Phoenix, Arizona.

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