We Ask Because We Care: Our Commitment to Health Equity

Southern Regional Medical Center is committed to providing all patients equitable access to quality care regardless of race, ethnicity, preferred language, interpreter needs, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

To help achieve this goal, we ask patients about their ethnicity, preferred language, access to food, housing, transportation, utilities (gas, electric, water) and their safety. Formerly, this information is called race, ethnicity and language (REaL) data, and we collect it to improve the health of our community – particularly where healthcare disparities or inequities exist.

According to Healthy People 2020, “Achieving health equity requires valuing everyone equally with focused and ongoing societal efforts to address avoidable inequalities, historical and contemporary injustices, and the elimination of health and health care disparities” – and reducing disparities in care access, quality and outcomes that adversely affect diverse and marginalized communities.

Why are you asking me about my race, ethnicity and language preferences?

We ask because we care! Southern Regional Medical Center’s goal is to align our services and care with the needs of our community. Working towards narrowing the gap in healthcare inequity, accessibility and safety for all patients.

Social determinants of health (SDoH) as defined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are the conditions in which people live, learn, work, and play that are determined by the distribution of money, power, and resources and that affect a wide range of health and quality-of-life risks and outcomes. These differences are referred to as disparities.

We ask because we care and collect this information to analyze how we can serve our community better.  When decrease the disparities by providing resources to help our patients with food, housing, transportation, utilities and their safety, we improve their quality of life and wellness. Analyzing the disparities by race, ethnicity, gender and language forms how we culturally and inclusively educate, inform and empower our patients.

Who has access to the Real data I provide?

Patient information is protected (HIPAA). The information is part of the medical record.  The data we analyze is never used with the patient’s name or identifiers. Internally, we collect and analyze the data without patient identifiers.

What is health equity and why does it matter?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health equity exists when “everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health.”

Health is a fundamental human right and advancing health equity matters for everyone. By working to reduce health disparities, we can have a positive impact within our community, across the country and around the world.

Ela C. Lena

Health Equity Officer