Resources for Addressing Disparities and Improving Quality
Overview
Quality health care means delivering services in ways that are safe, timely, patient centered, effective, efficient, and equitable. Unfortunately, our health care system often distributes services inefficiently and unevenly across populations, and some Americans receive worse care than others in the United States. Variations in health care and health status among racial and ethnic and socioeconomic groups continue to challenge the nation.
The nature and size of quality disparities for vulnerable populations also vary across geographic areas, such that some States have larger gaps than others, as
can be seen in State Snapshots. Even areas with smaller disparities between populations may warrant quality improvement efforts if the overall population is
experiencing lower quality care.
The combination of unique population demographics and health care environments coupled with access to policy and program levers makes States an appropriate
initiator of action to reduce health care disparities. States also have new opportunities and incentives to address health disparities in light of the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).
As States increasingly pursue activities to improve the health status and quality of care for vulnerable populations, such as racial and ethnic groups, AHRQ is
developing and facilitating access to tools that can aid States in their efforts. Below are categories of resources available to States:
Contents
Raising Awareness
| Source |
Resource |
Description |
| AHRQ |
National Healthcare Quality
Report |
Reports trends in health care quality, including effectiveness of care, patient safety, timeliness of care, patient centeredness, and efficiency of
care |
| AHRQ |
National Healthcare
Disparities Report |
Summarizes health care quality and access among various racial, ethnic, and income groups and other priority populations, such as residents of
rural areas and people with disabilities |
| CDC |
Health
Disparities and Inequalities Report—United States (2011) |
Consolidates the most recent national data available on disparities in mortality, morbidity, behavioral risk factors, health care access,
preventive health services, and social determinants of critical health problems in the US across selected indicators |
| CDC |
Promoting Preventive Services for Adults 50-64 (2009) |
Identifies a set of recommended preventive services, provides indicators and data at national, State, and selected local levels with which to
monitor progress, and promotes successful strategies to facilitate adoption and use |
| CDC |
Health Disparities and Social Determinants of Health
Resources |
Provides a list of resources and publications on health disparities and social determinants of health |
| HHS |
Healthy People 2020 |
Provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans |
| HHS |
HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health
Disparities (2011) |
Outlines goals and actions HHS will take to reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities |
| HHS |
National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity
(2011) |
Provides a common set of goals and strategies for initiatives and partnerships that can help racial and ethnic minority populations and other
underserved groups reach their health potential |
IOM |
Unequal Treatment (2002) |
Assesses the extent of disparities in the types and quality of health services received by U.S. racial and ethnic minorities and non-minorities,
explores contributing factors, and recommends policies and practices to eliminate these inequities |
| Kaiser Family Foundation |
Health Reform and Communities
of Color: Implications for Racial and Ethnic Disparities (2010) |
Discusses key provisions of the health care reform legislation as well as direct and indirect impacts on health disparities |
Collecting Data
| Source |
Resource |
Description |
| Commonwealth Fund |
Racial, Ethnic, and Primary Language Data Collection in the Health Care System: An Assessment of Federal Policies and Practices
(2001) |
Provides the first comprehensive analysis of the policies and statutes governing the collection of health care data by race, ethnicity, and primary
language |
| Health Research and Educational Trust |
The
HRET Disparities Toolkit: A Toolkit for Collecting Race, Ethnicity, and Primary Language Information from Patients |
Provides hospitals, health systems, clinics, and health plans information and resources for systematically collecting race, ethnicity, and primary
language data from patients |
| IOM |
Race, Ethnicity, and Language
Data: Standardization for Healthcare Quality Improvement (2009) |
Recommends collection of more granular ethnicity and language data according to national standards |
| OMB |
Standards for Maintaining,
Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity |
Provides a minimum standard for maintaining, collecting, and presenting data on race and ethnicity for all Federal reporting purposes |
| Robert Wood Johnson Foundation |
The
National Health Plan Collaborative Toolkit |
Provides resources, lessons, best practices, and case studies to help health plans join the effort to reduce disparities |
Analyzing Data
| Source |
Resource |
Description |
| AHRQ |
NHQR/NHDR Web Site |
Provides national and State health care quality information and data, including benchmarks and trends |
| AHRQ |
Preventable
Hospitalization Costs and Mapping Tool |
Maps AHRQ's Prevention Quality and Pediatric Quality indicators for a State or county and estimates the expected cost savings that could be
achieved by reducing potentially avoidable hospitalizations |
| AHRQ |
Creation of
New Race-Ethnicity Codes and Socioeconomic Status (SES) Indicators for Medicare Beneficiaries (2008) |
Provides a validated measure of socioeconomic status (SES) and compiles tabulations in the use of selected Medicare services by race and ethnicity
and SES nationally and within the largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in which elderly Hispanic and Asian people reside |
| ASTHO |
Health
Equity Snapshot Map |
Provides stand-alone documents that can serve as a quick reference regarding state/territorial minority health and health disparities activities in States or territories |
| AHRQ |
Inventory of Benchmarking Databases
Databases with measure results already calculated
Databases from which measure results could be calculated
User's Guide
|
Information (including hyperlinks) for databases with results for specific U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) quality measures as well as relevant databases from which results could be calculated, for benchmarking quality improvement efforts. Database information includes: geographic scope of the results (national, multistate, single State, regions within a State), reporting unit (clinician, health plan, hospital, nursing home, hospice, end-stage renal disease (ESRD)), type of benchmark (national average, state average, mean), etc. |
Reporting Data
Identifying Best Practices
| Source |
Resource |
Description |
| AHRQ |
Innovations Exchange |
Provides innovations and quality tools to help users solve problems, improve health care quality, and reduce disparities |
| AHRQ |
Quality Diagnostic Tools for States |
Consists of events and technical assistance opportunities that disseminate and encourage the use of AHRQ Quality Improvement tools to support State
policymakers with their health care quality improvement efforts |
| AHRQ |
Diabetes Care Quality Improvement: A Resource Guide for State Action (2008) |
Helps States assess the quality of diabetes care and create quality improvement strategies |
| AHRQ |
Asthma
Care Quality Improvement: A Resource Guide for State Action (2009) |
Helps States assess the quality of asthma care and create quality improvement strategies |
| IOM |
Challenges and Successes in Reducing Health
Disparities: Workshop Summary (2008) |
Summarizes workshop designed to increase the visibility of disparities and to develop strategies to reduce disparities |
| NQF |
Comprehensive
Framework and Preferred Practices for Measuring and Reporting Cultural Competency (2009) |
Outlines a comprehensive framework for measuring and reporting cultural competency and provides a detailed set of preferred practices for
culturally competent care |
| National Public Health and Hospital
Institute |
Assuring Healthcare Equity: A Healthcare Equity Blueprint
(2008) |
Offers strategies and practices that can be tailored to individual hospitals to address equity in providing quality care |
| Robert Wood Johnson Foundation |
Improving Quality and Achieving Equity: A Guide
for Hospital Leaders (2009) |
Serves as a health care quality improvement guide for CEOs, high-level managers in hospitals, and other leaders in the fields of safety, finance,
and risk reduction in hospitals |
| Robert Wood Johnson Foundation |
Expecting Success Toolkit: Excellence in Cardiac Care (2008) |
Provides tips for hospitals on improving the quality of care and reducing disparities based on the experience of 10 participating
hospitals |
| Working for Quality |
Priorities in Action |
Priorities in Action features some of our nation's most promising and transformative quality improvement programs, and describes their alignment to the NQS' six priorities. Updated monthly, these programs represent private sector, Federal, State, and local efforts |
Tracking Success
Focusing on Specific Vulnerable Populations
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