Health Equity in Practice: Adapting QI Tools to Identify, Measure, and Reduce Disparities (Oct. 27 – Nov. 3)

Overview

This interactive course is designed for clinicians, quality improvement and patient safety professionals, healthcare leaders, and population health teams seeking to integrate health equity into quality and safety efforts. Participants will build practical skills in collecting and analyzing sociodemographic data, identifying disparities, and applying equity-focused approaches to proven QI tools such as SMARTIE aims, fishbone diagrams, PDSA cycles, and funnel plots.

Through expert-led sessions, hands-on workshops, and real-world case studies, learners will gain experience evaluating interventions and designing initiatives that drive equitable outcomes across patient populations. Participants will collaborate with peers and industry experts while exploring best practices in data collection, equity analysis, and improvement strategy development.

Course Format & Dates

This course will be delivered virtually over two live sessions to maximize flexibility and engagement. Participants should register for either Session 1 or Session 2, based on their scheduling preference. Each session consists of two live virtual classes.

Session 1
Part 1: October 27, 9:00 AM–1:00 PM (EST)
Part 2: November 3, 9:00 AM–1:00 PM (EST)

OR

Session 2
Part 1: October 28, 1:00 PM–5:00 PM (EST)
Part 2: November 4, 1:00 PM–5:00 PM (EST)

Participants are expected to attend both parts of their selected session.

Each session will feature a mix of instruction, interactive exercises, and collaborative discussions, allowing participants to apply concepts in real time while connecting with peers and facilitators.

Target Audience

This workshop is intended for healthcare professionals involved in quality improvement who want to integrate health equity into initiatives and organizational strategies.

Ideal participants include clinicians, quality and patient safety professionals, healthcare administrators, operational leaders, and population health or health equity teams.

Participants should have a basic understanding of quality improvement methods, experience working on QI projects, and familiarity with Excel or similar tools for data analysis.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the Health Equity in Practice: Adapting QI Tools to Identify, Measure, and Reduce Disparities course, participants will be able to:

Part I

• Explain foundational concepts related to health equity, patient safety, and healthcare quality, including the social determinants of health, health related social needs, and structural drivers of inequities in care and outcomes.
• Recognize the importance of and best practices for collecting patient sociodemographic data and explain how this information can be utilized to assess and address health disparities.
• Assess the appropriateness and limitations of quality measures used in health equity analyses.
• Conduct and interpret health equity analyses using funnel plots and stratified baseline data to identify potential disparities in patient care and outcomes across sociodemographic groups.

Part II

• Explain how selected traditional quality improvement (QI) tools, processes, and methodologies can be adapted to advance health equity.
• Through case study, apply equity-focused QI tools to design quality improvement initiatives aimed at reducing disparities in care and outcomes.
• Conduct and interpret run chart and statistical process control analyses to evaluate the efficacy of quality improvement initiatives on disparities in care and outcomes.

Dietitian

This course has been approved for 8.0 CPEUs. Completion of this RD/DTR profession-specific or IPCE activity awards CPEUs (One IPCE=One CPEU). RDs and DTRs are to select activity type 102 in their activity log. Sphere and Competency selection is at the learner’s discretion.

Nurse

Boston Children’s Hospital designates this activity for 8.0 contact hours for nurses. Nurses should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Occupational Therapists

Occupational Therapists completing this course can claim 8.0 APTA MA CE Credits; all transcripts and/or certificates are the responsibility of the learner to submit to their licensing board.

Pharmacy

This activity carries a maximum of 8.0 contact hours. Pharmacists should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Physician

Boston Children’s Hospital designates this live activity for a maximum of 8.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits ™. Physicians should claim only credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in this activity.

Physician Assistants

Boston Children’s Hospital has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credits for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 8.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Physical Therapists

Physical Therapists completing this course receive 8.0 APTA MA CE Credits.

Psychology

Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs. This course has been approved for 8.0 continuing education credits.

Social Work

As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Boston Children’s Hospital is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit.

Boston Children’s Hospital maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 8.0 ACE CE continuing education credits.

Disclosures

Boston Children’s Hospital adheres to all ACCME Essential Areas, Standards, and Policies. It is Boston Children’s policy that those who have influenced the content of a CME activity (e.g. planners, faculty, authors, reviewers and others) disclose all relevant financial relationships with commercial entities so that Boston Children’s may identify and resolve any conflicts of interest prior to the activity. These disclosures will be provided in the activity materials along with disclosure of any commercial support received for the activity. Additionally, faculty members have been instructed to disclose any limitations of data and unlabeled or investigational uses of products during their presentations.

The following planners, speakers, and content reviewers, on behalf of themselves, have reported the following relevant financial relationships with any entity producing, marketing, reselling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on patients: 

Name, Degree	Entity Name, or None

Please see the FAQs below for common questions about how to work through a course. If you have a question or issue that is not addressed in the FAQ, please use this form to submit a help request, or if your issue is urgent, call the CME office at: 617-919-9908.

How do navigate this course?

How do I navigate this course?

There are two ways to access and navigate course content with the interactive table of contents: at the bottom of the main course page or in the sidebar on the right side of the page. Select the links in the table of contents to access the corresponding content. Depending on the course, access to content may be linear, in which case each content module or section can only be accessed if the prior ones are completed, or non-linear, in which case modules and sections can be accessed in any order. Use the breadcrumbs at the top of any course page to orient yourself within a course, or return to a previous course section or the main course page.

How do I claim credit for this course?

How do I claim credit?

If the course has been accredited, available credits will be displayed on the course home page. Select only those credits that apply to your profession, and click/tap “Apply Selection.” You may make your selection at any point while you are taking the course, or after you have completed it.

How do I download a certificate?

How do I download a certificate?

There are two ways to view/download your certificate: from within the course or from the course listing under your profile (select the document icon). In either case, you must have selected at least one available course credit type to generate a certificate.

How do I view/print my transcript?

How do I view/print my transcript?

You must be logged in to view your transcript. Select My Profile at the top of the page. If you do not see the transcript selector, be sure the Courses tab is selected. Select the type of credit and dates to include in your credit report. To include all credits from all time, leave the options blank. Select Download Transcript to view/download your transcript. Note each credit type in your transcripts starts a new page.

How do I request a refund?

How do I request a refund?

Please email the CME Department to request a refund.