Practicum Highlight: Laura Galster, MPH'23

Health Equity Measurement in Hospitals and Health Systems: An Environmental Scan

New regulations in 2023 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and The Joint Commission require that hospitals in the United States engage in measuring health equity. However, current guidance on health equity measurement is limited and fragmented. For her practicum project, Health Equity Measurement in Hospitals and Health Systems, Laura Galster utilized an environmental scan of available health equity analytics literature as well as interviews with health system analytics leaders. This informed her development of a summary document that included available resources and recommendations for hospitals on how to systematically and meaningfully approach health equity measurement. 

Laura’s investigation was timely in responding to the quickly changing regulatory environment. Her ILE (Integrative Learning Experience) has since been shared with other organizations to inform their approach and led her to establish a Health Equity Committee at Rutland Regional Medical Center, where she currently works as the Senior Director of Strategy and Data Analytics, leading the development of health equity analyses. 

"Dartmouth's Hybrid MPH was the perfect option for me as a working professional. The ability to immediately apply what we learned to my work was invaluable."

Written by: Mia Pennekamp Soucy

POSTED 4/15/2024 AT 10:00 AM IN ##practicum