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. Data Sources/Study Setting. The Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), December 2006–May 2008. Study Design. 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. Data Collection/Extraction Methods. Studies were planned and executed by PAMF's Quality and Planning division. Principal Findings. 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.