Equity Dashboards: Data Visualizations for Assessing Inequities in a Hospital Setting

At the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris, W. E. B. Du Bois presented data visualizations illustrating socioeconomic conditions—including elements of structural racism—of African American people in the United States.¹  More than a century later, few researchers have used data visualization to effectively illuminate patterns of racial and ethnic inequities and the impacts of structural racism. Although the medical literature has been saturated with statistical descriptions of such inequities, there is little evidence of change in the underlying problem^2,3  and traditional statistical approaches often fail to drive effective change.^4,5 

Healthcare institutions are not immune to the effects of systemic and structural racism.⁶  Systemic racism at Seattle Children’s (SC) was highlighted by the resignation of a long tenured African American pediatrician in 2020, who claimed that SC had failed to address racism throughout the organization. These allegations initiated a comprehensive assessment across SC, led...