Collecting patient race/ethnicity and primary language data in ambulatory care settings: a case study in methodology.
OBJECTIVE
To collect patient race/ethnicity and language (r/e/l) in an ambulatory care setting.


METHODS
The Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), December 2006-May 2008.


METHODS
Three pilot studies: (1) Comparing mail versus telephone versus clinic visit questionnaire distribution; (2) comparing the front desk method (FDM) versus exam room method (ERM) in the clinic visit; and (3) determining resource allocation necessary for data entry.


METHODS
Studies were planned and executed by PAMF's Quality and Planning division.


RESULTS
Collecting r/e/l data during clinic visits elicited the highest response rate. The FDM yielded higher response rate than the ERM. One full-time equivalent is initially necessary for data entry.


CONCLUSIONS
Conducting sequential studies can help guide r/e/l collection in a short time frame.
Palaniappan
Latha P
LP
Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute, CA 94301, USA. lathap@pamf.org
Wong
Eric C
EC
Shin
Jessica J
JJ
Moreno
Maria R
MR
Otero-Sabogal
Regina
R
D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007802:Language; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010361:Patients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011177:Postal Service; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone