14 | About the 2013 Health Equity Report
(HSTM) Insights Online database; HealthStream is the vendor that administers this survey. This survey is only applicable to inpatients; it was administered to a sample of discharged patients and participation was voluntary. The percentages in the tables represent the top box score, which is the percent of patients who responded positively to composite and individual survey items (i.e., “Always”, “Definitely”, or “Yes” responses) or rated items on a scale from 1 to 10, positively (i.e., if 10 is the highest rating on a scale of 1 to 10, the percentage of patients who responded either 9 or 10). In the tables, the column labeled HSTM contains the top box scores that represent the 50th percentile of national hospitals in the HealthStream database. ADVENTIST BEHAVIORAL HEALTH In alignment with the theme of the 2013 Center on Health Disparities Annual Fall Conference, “Partnering Toward a Healthier Future: Addressing Disparities in Behavioral Health,” we devote one section to the issue of mental and behavioral health in the United States, highlighting the patients and work of Adventist Behavioral Health (ABH), which has facilities in both Montgomery County and Dorchester County in Maryland. The facility in Montgomery County primarily serves patients of all ages from Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Frederick counties. The facility in Dorchester County primarily serves the pediatric population of Dorchester and Wicomico counties. Prior to presenting patient data, the ABH section begins with background information on mental and behavioral health on national, state, and local levels. Due to the very different populations treated at each location, most of the data for ABH are presented by location. ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS Special highlights in the report include information about federal standards to increase culturally competent care and reduce health disparities, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the state of Maryland, efforts to reduce readmissions and improve patient-centered care across the Adventist HealthCare system, and AHC hospitals’ community health needs assessment results. The report concludes with Next Steps for all hospitals striving to implement a data-driven health equity agenda to achieve patient care that is high-quality and accessible across the state of Maryland. The primary goal of this report is to share demographic, clinical, and quality information about AHC hospitals and other entities, and highlight efforts to improve patient experiences and outcomes in the communities we serve. A majority of the information is descriptive and analyses are exploratory; detailed discussion and interpretation of findings is beyond the scope of this report. Nevertheless, we hope the information will be used by our hospital leadership to inform overall strategies and interventions that will have a positive impact on the health of populations.