It’s not news that the US population will continue to become more diverse. What is surprising is just how quickly our diversity is increasing. In this post, learn how the benefits of increased diversity in healthcare and cultural understanding within healthcare organizations directly impacts patient outcomes and hiring practices.

Consider that although minorities represent approximately 29% of patients nationally, they comprise only 14% of hospital board members and hold the same percentage of leadership positions, according to the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the Institute for Diversity in Health Management². Obviously, this leads to a large difference in patients and healthcare leadership.

The benefits of increased diversity and cultural understanding within healthcare organizations are significant, and directly impact patient outcomes. Increased diversity and cultural understanding not only increases patient satisfaction and HCAHPS scores, but also increases innovation.

One way to increase your diversity and inclusion efforts within a healthcare organization is to have greater visibility into your hiring practices, with a tailored approach to tackle this feat.

More from the blog: '5 Steps to Transform Your Talent Pipeline'

Providing Better Patient Care

We can provide better patient care if we understand and represent the diversity within our patient base. Understanding differences in languages, beliefs about medicine, death, and afterlife, will help all healthcare professionals to relate to their patients and prepare themselves for sometimes difficult conversations. If your healthcare professionals have empathy and understanding of the culture of their patient, they will be better able to have conversations and propose courses of action for their patients.

As Sheriee Ladd, Senior Vice President of HR for Indiana University Health and a PeopleFluent customer, states:

‘Increasing the diversity of the healthcare workforce improves patient satisfaction, healthcare utilization patterns, and access to care for minority patients’³.

One specific strategy you can implement to improve your HCAHPS scores is to increase diversity and make your diversity and inclusion programs a strategic priority throughout your organization. ‘Hospitals with greater cultural competency have better HCAHPS scores for doctor communication, hospital rating, and hospital recommendation’.⁴

Related reading: '4 Practical Ways to Recruit Diverse Talent'

Beyond Patient Satisfaction

A workforce that is culturally diverse and inclusive will also enhance productivity and innovation. Workforce cultures that are inclusive and value diversity, ’enhance productivity and innovation’1 with a variety of viewpoints and expertise on the subject. So consider your current diversity and inclusion programs, and the impact you can have on patient outcomes and innovation by executing and growing these programs.

PeopleFluent is here to support you, with services through the PeopleFluent Research Institute and healthcare talent management solutions that can help ensure you are hiring the right mix of diversity staff and with systems that help you to execute on those diversity and inclusion programs.

¹Salisbury, Jan, Byrd, Sam. “Why Diversity Matters in Health Care”. CSA Bulletin. 2006.

²Increasing Diversity in Governance and Management, Thomas C. Dolan, PhD, FACHE, CAE, President and CEO, American College of Healthcare Executives, Journal of Healthcare Management 58:2, March/April 2013

³Institute on Assets and Social Policy. “Improving Quality and Performance: Cultural Competence and Workforce Diversity Strategies”. The Heller School for Social Policy and Management. January 2016.

⁴Weech-Maldonado, Elliot, Pradhan, Schiller, Hall, Hays. “Can Hospital Cultural Competency Reduce Disparities in Patient Experiences with Care?”. Med Care. 2012.