A Data-Driven Approach to Addressing Racial Disparities in Health Care Outcomes

The authors discuss lessons learned in the development of a data collection, analysis, and reporting system used by Brigham Health during the COVID-19 pandemic “to understand the differential impact of Covid-19 on our patients and staff.” They note how understanding of inequities is limited by the lack of demographic data collected and describe how this data was used “to design high-impact strategies to reduce harm” caused by racial disparities.