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As a tax-exempt hospital, Ochsner produces publicly accessible community health assessments as a requirement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). As a statewide network, Ochsner has conducted health assessments for Shreveport, Lafayette, Monroe, New Orleans, Kenner, Baton Rouge, St. Mary, St. Anne, Northshore, Houma, Kaplan, Crowley, and Breaux Bridge, as well as Bay St. Louis in Mississippi. 

Ochsner’s proprietary Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Dashboard launched in 2022. The dashboard does not appear to be public however and there is very little available information about this tool. Ochsner's 2022-2023 impact report describes the tool as follows:  “In 2022, Ochsner’s proprietary Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Dashboard launched, informing delivery model innovations and enabling clinicians to identify populations with gaps in care and outcomes. The dashboard includes patient experience and care metrics, with data sortable by sociodemographic groups like race, location, and insurance type. Through the dashboard, we could see that 36% of Ochsner Health Network patients with hypertension are Black or African American, and of those, 80% have their hypertension controlled. In comparison, 86% of white patients with hypertension have it controlled. This data was in turn used to inform strategies to close gaps in care and improve outcomes”  (Ochsner 2022-2023 Impact Report, n.p.). 

Ochsner Health Network. “2022 – 2023 Impact Report, Accelerating Value-Based Care.” Accessed March 2nd 2024.  https://www.ochsner.org/impact-report/. 

Ochsner’s  Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) stores clinical data collected over more than 20 years, includes data captured through EPIC/Clarity and claims data.

According to Philip M. Oravetz, MD, MPH, MBA, chief population health officer at Ochsner Health, Oschner is in the process of developing an electronic health record that includes demographic and SDOH data collected at the point of care, and then integrated into artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive modeling (Caffrey and Klein 2022). 

Caffrey, Mary, and Hayden Klein. 2022. “How Ochsner, Xavier Are Working Together to Make Louisiana a Healthy State,” December 2022, 10 (December). https://www.ajmc.com/view/how-ochsner-xavier-are-working-together-to-make-louisiana-a-healthy-state.

LDEQ’s Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) - official records created or received by LDEQ; documents unavailable online can be access via Public Records Request or by visiting one of LDEQ’s Public Records Centers, located at LDEQ Headquarters in Baton Rouge, or anyone of LDEQ’s Regional Offices

Water quality: https://waterdata.deq.louisiana.gov/ 

Air quality: https://airquality.deq.louisiana.gov/ 

“The Public Participation Group (PPG) is a part of the Public Participation & Permit Support Division within the Office of Environmental Services. PPG is responsible for issuing public notices and conducting public hearings and meetings associated with permitting activities related to the four categories of media (Air, Hazardous Waste, Solid Waste, and Water).” (https://www.deq.louisiana.gov/page/the-public-participation-group) 

“The Louisiana Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program is designed to ensure the accuracy, precision, and reliability of the data generated, as well as the use of the department-approved methodologies in the generation of that data. Laboratory data generated by commercial environmental laboratories that are not accredited under these regulations will not be accepted by the department in accordance with LAC 33:I.4501.A.2. Whenever samples are subcontracted to another environmental testing laboratory, the original laboratory shall maintain a verifiable copy the results with a chain of custody. The subcontracting procedure may not be used to circumvent proper accreditation or any state requirements. The original laboratory is responsible for ensuring that the secondary laboratory used is properly accredited for the scope of testing performed in accordance with LAC 33:I.5307.D.” (https://www.deq.louisiana.gov/page/la-lab-accreditation)

However, the 2021 Louisiana State Legislative Auditor found that “based on the data reliability testing we performed, some of the information DEQ collects regarding self-monitoring reports, such as postmark date and review date, is incomplete” (9). Based on findings from this report, the state auditor recommended DEQ make inspections less predictable; require photographs or other evidence*; and make more timely reviews of self-monitoring reports (rather than waiting years to review them).  

* In January 2019, the EPA’s Inspector General and the Louisiana Legislative Auditor were notified by DEQ that compliance inspections had been falsified (Louisiana Legislative Auditor, 2021)

Louisiana Legislative Auditor. 2021. “Monitoring and Enforcement of Air Quality. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.”

https://app2.lla.state.la.us/publicreports.nsf/0/bbc259a7e7a73cfa8625713b002c8e7b/$file/00001572.pdf?openelement&.7773098.