Health Equity Technical Assistance

Minority Research Grant Program

Focuses on supporting faculty at minority-serving institutions by designing and testing interventions that address and reduce health disparities.

Mapping Medicare Disparities Tool

Presents an interactive map of health-related measures from Medicare claims by sex, age, dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid, race and ethnicity, and location to help identify gaps in care and health disparities across various populations.

Compendium of Federal Datasets Addressing Health Disparities (PDF)

Includes a compilation of federal datasets related to health equity to help shape and inform the development of effective programs, policies, and practices.

Using Z Codes: The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Data Journey to Better Outcomes (PDF) 

Describes the journey that SDOH data takes from collection to reporting as ICD-10-CM Z codes, and contains guidance on using Z codes in quality improvement initiatives.

Disparities Impact Statement (PDF)

Provides personalized technical assistance focused on strengthening your quality improvement program to achieve health equity through a series of consultations from subject matter experts.

• Data Sources Handout (PDF) – Contains data sources, including health, health care, and demographic information, that can be used to identify disparities, and to help with your CMS Disparities Impact Statement and quality improvement.

Guide to Developing a Language Access Plan (PDF)

Identifies ways that providers can develop language access plans to ensure persons with limited English proficiency have meaningful access to their programs.

A Practical Guide to Implementing the National CLAS Standards (PDF)

Provides a framework for organizations to implement the National CLAS Standards, a guide created to help health care professionals improve health equity by delivering culturally and linguistically appropriate care to patients.

Providing Language Services to Diverse Populations: Lessons from the Field (PDF)

Discusses approaches to providing language assistance services to persons with limited English proficiency.

Guide to Reducing Disparities in Readmissions (PDF)

Provides an overview of key issues related to readmissions for racially and ethnically diverse Medicare beneficiaries and resources for hospital leaders to take action to address readmission.

Modernizing Health Care to Improve Physical Accessibility (PDF)

Includes guidance on how to increase physical accessibility of medical services, tools to assess your practice or facility’s accessibility, and tips and training materials to support efforts to reduce barriers and improve quality of care for individuals with disabilities.

The Medicare Learning Network Events & Trainings page includes self-paced courses on a broad range of topics.

View the Introduction to Language Access Plans to learn about developing and using a language access plan, and how it impacts health care services for those with limited English proficiency.

The Using CMS Data for Research on Disparities in Health and Health Care webcast describes CMS data resources, files, and measures that can be used in studying disparities in health care.

The Sources and Use of Medicare Enrollment Information (PDF) training reviews the source of the data found in the Medicare Beneficiary Summary File and who is included in the file.

The Strengths, Weaknesses, and Applications of Medicare Data (PDF) video provides an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the Medicare administrative data for research purposes.

The Using Medicare Hospitalization Information and the MedPAR (PDF) training discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the MedPAR/Inpatient data.

Complete the Caring for LGBTQI+ Patients training to learn to identify sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) terminology to build trust with LGBTQI+ patients and recognize health disparities that impact many older LGBTQI+ adults.