This information is for reference purposes only. It was current when produced and may now be outdated. Archive material is no longer maintained, and some links may not work. Persons with disabilities having difficulty accessing this information should contact us at: https://info.ahrq.gov. Let us know the nature of the problem, the Web address of what you want, and your contact information.
Please go to www.ahrq.gov for current information.
Addressing Health Care Disparities
Context and Framework
An Overview of the National Healthcare Disparities Report
Kaytura Felix Aaron, M.D., Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD.
Dr. Felix Aaron explained that the National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR) will provide important information about the nature and extent of health care disparities that exist across racial and ethnic groups. One of most striking aspects of the information that will be presented in the report is how consistently disparities are seen across a wide spectrum of services, health care conditions, and delivery settings.
In addition to providing information on access, quality, and outcomes across racial and ethnic populations, the NHDR can be of great value to States as they develop, implement, and evaluate their own efforts to address health care disparities. States can use the NHDR to:
- Initiate dialogue and collaboration with key stakeholders.
- Identify areas and opportunities for improvement.
- Use the measures highlighted in the report as the basis for developing their own State-specific measures and benchmark their progress in addressing disparities against national data.
Updates to the NHDR are expected to be released annually.