How Can Health Care Systems Research Improve Health Equity?

Hospitals across the United States are increasingly vocal about their desire to improve health care inequities and disparities, but it is not always clear what programs and efforts will do the most good.

A recent study, led by Deena Chisolm, PhD, director of the Center for Child Health Equity and Outcomes Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, has helped develop a kind of roadmap for the ways that health care research can make a difference.

“Health systems can help improve health but sometimes they also make things worse,” she said. Research can help us understand how to improve their quality and equity. This also helps us learn how to avoid potential negative outcomes related to health systems.”

The study, published in Health Services Research, identifies six priority themes with substantial research gaps, along with research agendas and action plans.