Data used to categorize individuals for identification, records matching, and other purposes.

Data Element
Ethnicity

Applicable Vocabulary Standard(s)

Applicable Standards (*Please confirm or update this field for the new USCDI version*)

Both standards are required

  • The Office of Management and Budget Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, as revised, October 30, 1997
  • CDC Race and Ethnicity Code Set Version 1.3 May 2025

Comment

Submitted by dataequitycoalition on

Data Equity Coalition: Ethnicity Data Element for USCDI V7

Recommendation: The Data Equity Coalition recommends that ASTP update the current race and ethnicity data elements to align with the 2024 revised Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (SPD 15) standards for the collection and use of race and ethnicity data. We recommend that ASTP consolidate the current race and ethnicity data elements into a single data element, aligning with SPD 15. 

Rationale: Persistent disparities in health outcomes, particularly among historically underserved communities, are exacerbated by outdated and incomplete data collection practices. Standardizing these elements across federal health programs, health IT systems, and value-based care models is foundational to identifying disparities, mitigating bias in emerging technologies, and advancing health equity. Incorporating the updated OMB SPD 15 categories into the USCDI will promote consistency across the ecosystem and support HHS’s broader goals in prevention, wellness, and chronic disease management.

Submitted by rmcclure on

Combine race and ethnicity data elements

OMB has published updated regulations to combine Race and Ethnicity into one question. In doing so they elevate the existing Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) concept as a "top level" reporting category, but they also remove the distinction between "race" and "ethnicity" while allowing for the collection of prior top-level categories from both. I strongly encourage ONC to align with this intent and combine race and ethnicity into one data element. Note that existing models and data are easily aligned with this proposed improvement.

Submitted by Janice on

combined race and ethnicity

OMB recently finalized a proposal made about a year ago that combines race and ethnicity into a single concept, adds Middle Eastern and North African as a new major category, and offers the option to provide a more detailed ethnicity than currently captured among other changes. By the time USCDI v5 is likely to be used in regulation those changes will be several years along and likely starting to be absorbed/used in the real world. We suggest ONC consider whether it makes sense to adopt those changes in USCDI v5 or, if not, to at least consider a plan for how it will move to support those changes in the future.

Submitted by nedragarrett_CDC on

CDC's Consolidated Comment for USCDI v4

  • Recommend updating the applicable standards language with the following: “At a minimum, the Office of Management and Budget Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, as revised, October 30, 1997, must be used. If needed, a detailed list of race and ethnicity categories must be captured using the CDC detailed Race and Ethnicity code system (CDCREC). The CDCREC detailed concepts are an expansion of and roll-up to the OMB minimum race and ethnicity categories. “
  • Comments from NACCHO: NACCHO supports addition of this data element. NACCHO recommends using the existing the HL7 standard for the Ethnicity.
  • Comments from CSTE: CSTE agrees with CDC's recommendation to align with CDC Race and Ethnicity Code System (see: PHIN VADS). Regarding implementation, if EHRs cannot display all coded values, they should have a mechanism to convert data into coded values in a way that meets jurisdictional reporting requirements. Additional revision may be necessary as OMB revises Statistical Policy Directive 15 (Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity).

Submitted by nedragarrett_CDC on

CDC's comment on behalf of ASTHO (WA DOH)

Comments: Recommending addition of two values in the valueset ‘PHVS_EthnicityGroup_CDC’ that does not currently encompass the fact that patient do not respond to the question:

  • Hispanic or Latino
  • Not Hispanic or Latino
  • Patient declined to respond/Asked but unknown*
  • Unknown*

*New values being proposed

Submitted by victor_lee on

These comments apply to both…

These comments apply to both Ethnicity and Race. In USCDI v2, the recommendations for Ethnicity and Race require BOTH OMB Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (10/30/1997) and CDC Race and Ethnicity Code Set Version 1.0 (March 2000). Two comments. First, the OMB and CDC terms appear to be the same, so it seems redundant to "require" both. Second, according to PHIN VADS, the CDC Race & Ethnicity codes are on version 1.2 as of 7/15/2021. I don't know what specific codes changed between versions 1.0 and 1.2, but the general hierarchy has been in place for many years. It would seem reasonable to update the USCDI recommendations for Ethnicity and Race to include CDC Race & Ethnicity v1.2 (and remove mention of OMB if allowable to do so).

Submitted by victor_lee on

Also, VSAC has Ethnicity (2…

Also, VSAC has Ethnicity (2.16.840.1.114222.4.11.837) and Race (2.16.840.1.114222.4.11.7232) value sets at v1.2, but the PHIN VADS source goes deeper into the hierarchy and is the more robust source that I suggest we converge upon. Happy to hear other comments on this.

Submitted by ravi.kafle@doh… on

Additional values in the value set

Recommending addition of two values in the value set ‘PHVS_EthnicityGroup_CDC’ that does not currently encompass the fact that patient do not respond to the question:

  • Hispanic or Latino
  • Not Hispanic or Latino
  • Patient declined to respond/Asked but unknown*
  • Unknown*

*=New values being proposed

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