Addressing Health Care Disparities

Using Data to Design Strategies

Many States already have, but are not using, a considerable amount of data that could help them identify and address the health care disparities that exist within their public health care programs.

Pete Bailey of South Carolina's Office of Research and Statistics showed how Medicaid claims data and related information could be used to examine variations in utilization, care quality, and outcomes across different Medicaid racial and ethnic populations.

Opportunities also exist at the local level to use data to design interventions to address health and health care disparities.

Rhonda BeLue of Nashville, Tennessee described how geocoded data have played an important role in the identification of health disparities in the Nashville area and in the design and eventual evaluation of interventions to address these disparities.

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