Summary
Although the value of member-reported demographic data is widely accepted, few health care organizations have scaled up collection of these data. Even fewer routinely stratify operational measures by demographic data to identify disparate outcomes and act to address findings.
Findings: Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace, has designed an application for insurance coverage to encourage consumers to submit their demographic data, which inform efforts to equitably increase health care coverage and reduce health disparities. Covered California has shown that demographic data can be collected and used well. We challenge the health care industry to accept the imperative for collecting member-reported demographic data and embrace the smarter organizational operations that result.
This article uses data from California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) 2013, 2016, and 2022 for Californians ages 0 to 64.
