Submitted by: Prasanna Vankina, Nandini Avula, Shamily Jadhav, Roli Dwivedi, MD, and Vineet Raman

Desired actions:

• Advocate legislatively
• Bring awareness to members, the public, media and/or specific groups/stakeholders
• Support/collaborate with other groups/organizations on work that’s already being done

WHEREAS the currently available aggregated population health data in Minnesota (e.g., Minnesota Department of Health’s (MDH) data reports and Minnesota Community Measurement (MNCM)) represents racial population groups as homogenous^1-3;

WHEREAS data aggregation has been shown to proliferate health disparities through systemic inequities such as inadequate allocation of resources⁴;

WHEREAS disaggregated data can highlight important heterogeneity between racial groups, allowing us to better identify communities with elevated health disparity burdens^5-8;

WHEREAS one of the MAFP’s key three priorities is to reduce health disparities in Minnesota⁹;

BE IT RESOLVED that the MAFP encourage the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Community Measurement to publish disaggregated population health data;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the MAFP educate state legislators on the importance of disaggregated population health data through informational panels, summits and meetings with legislators;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the MAFP educate its membership on the need for disaggregated population health data, especially as it relates to the diverse communities they serve, through clinician education sessions and the MAFP website.

References and Supporting Information

1. https://www.health.state.mn.us/data/index.html
2. https://www.health.state.mn.us/data/mchs/index.html
3. https://mncm.org/reports/
4. Camara, E., Safri, A., Ko, C. L., Abdul-Mutakabbir, J. C., Bandali, A., Brown, B. R., & PharmGradWishlist Leadership Team (2024). The implications of data aggregation on propagating racial and ethnic disparities within the health care landscape: Actionable recommendations and considerations for pharmacists. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association: JAPhA, 64(1), 34—38.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2023.10.017
5. Adia, A. C., Nazareno, J., Operario, D., & Ponce, N. A. (2020). Health conditions, outcomes, and service access among Filipino, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean adults in California, 2011—2017. American Journal of Public Health, 110(4), 520-526.
6. Kauh, T. J., Read, J. G., & Scheitler, A. J. (2021). The Critical Role of Racial/Ethnic Data Disaggregation for Health Equity. Population research and policy review, 40(1), 1—7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-020-09631-6
7. Gigli, K. H. (2021). Data disaggregation: a research tool to identify health inequities. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 35(3), 332-336.
8. https://www.mncompass.org/data-insights/articles/race-data-disaggregation-what-does-it-mean-why-does-it-matter
9. https://mafp.org/about

Comments in support (7):

Elizabeth Ingersent – This proposal makes sense and should not be too challenging to implement.

Nancy Baker – It’s timely and appropriate that we can view disaggregated population health data in order to view and appropriately address racial and ethnic health care disparities.

Andrew Slattengren – Aggregation of population health data has the risk of hiding healthcare disparities that may exist between different individuals and subgroups. Our state should be able to disaggregate the data so that funding programs are directed toward those most in need.

Eric Poulin – More precise data is always helpful.

Chris Reif – I support this. Inaccurate / incomplete / false data is structural racism. It takes time, money, reorganization, and commitment to deconstruct structural racism.

Sola Adegoke – Support. Such detailed data is crucial for identifying and addressing health disparities within Minnesota’s diverse communities. By advocating for the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Community Measurement to publish this data, we can foster a more equitable healthcare system.

Margaret Kirkegaard – Support.

Comments against (1):

Robert Koshnick – We are one human race. The only real diversity of humans is economics and diversity of thought. As time goes on, we will all be multicultural. This is useless other than creating anger among different identity groups to encourage statism, state run economies.