Access is the ability to receive high-quality health care that meets each person’s needs. This means culturally and linguistically appropriate care, having the technology to monitor health or participate in telehealth, a workforce large and diverse enough to address each person’s needs, and community-based supports that help people get and stay as healthy as possible.

Race, ethnicity, and language (REL) measurement means collecting, analyzing, and using data to identify and address health disparities. Quality REL data is self-reported using detailed, standardized categories and selecting multiple categories.

Health Equity Solutions recently submitted a public comment on the Office of Health Strategy’s Roadmap for Strengthening and Sustaining Primary Care. This Roadmap is intended to inform the development of the state’s primary care infrastructure through health reforms that expand the team of providers caring for patients, align how they coordinate, and improve the system’s capacity to address social drivers of health by expanding payment options beyond a fee-for-service model.

Health Equity Solutions recently sent a letter to Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith and members of the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force outlining recommendations for federal guidance and regulations to tackle existing barriers to race, ethnicity, primary language, and (REL) data collection.

Health Equity Solutions recently sent a letter to the Commissioner of the Department of Social (DSS) Services outlining opportunities for DSS to leverage the ongoing policies and practices undertaken by Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families to address systemic racism.