(a) A hospital shall prepare an annual equity report. The equity report shall include an analysis of health status and access to care disparities for patients on the basis of age, sex, race, ethnicity, language, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and payor.
(b) On and after September 30, 2025, but not until 12 months after the release of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ health equity quality measures for their proposed rules for other Medicare prospective payment systems, the annual equity report submitted by a hospital shall report on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Quality Indicators or any other relevant measures specified by the advisory committee, including measures of access, quality, and outcomes by age, sex, race, ethnicity, language, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and payor for the hospital’s patient populations, pursuant to the recommendations provided by the advisory committee. The equity report shall also include a plan to prioritize and address disparities for vulnerable populations identified in the data, with measurable objectives and specific timeframes, pursuant to the recommendations provided by the advisory committee and consistent with subdivision (d).
(c) A hospital system with more than one hospital shall present the information in the equity report disaggregated at the individual hospital level and aggregated across all hospitals in the system.
(d) A hospital’s equity report shall include a health equity plan to achieve disparity reduction for disparities identified in the data, as specified by the advisory committee, with measurable objectives and specific timeframes for disparity reduction. This shall include addressing both of the following:
(1) The 10 widest disparities in health care quality for vulnerable populations, access, or outcomes, as determined by the advisory committee.
(2) Performance across all of the following priority areas:
(A) Person-centered care.
(B) Patient safety.
(C) Addressing patient social determinants of health.
(D) Effective treatment.
(E) Care coordination.
(F) Access to care.
(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 751, Sec. 2. (AB 1204) Effective January 1, 2022.)