A collaborative, data-driven approach to advancing health equity across an academic health system

Recognizing equity as a pillar of health care quality, University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS)-a statewide, integrated academic health system-embarked on a purposeful journey to advance high-quality care for all. Combining organizational change frameworks with principles of high reliability, we established equity as a cornerstone of system transformation in 2021. We have since disaggregated data to identify gaps in nine key patient outcomes: severe maternal morbidity, pediatric asthma-related ED visits, diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, congestive heart failure, opioid prescribing, unplanned readmissions, and patient experience. Through a systemwide "Health Equity Challenge," interdisciplinary teams explored hospital-specific data, analyzed root causes, and selected evidence-based strategies to close identified gaps in outcomes. Efforts over the last five years have yielded 12 unique action plans, with more than 20 strategies tied to defined performance measures. Our health system's collaborative, data-driven approach to advance health equity is facilitating transformative organizational change with measurable impact.