amednews: Health disparities persist despite quality improvements :: June 21, 2011 ... American Medical News

amednews: Health disparities persist despite quality improvements :: June 21, 2011 ... American Medical News

Despite slow but steady improvements in the quality of health care nationwide, closing disparities in care for minorities and low-income residents continues to be a challenge, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Overall, there were improvements in about two-thirds of 179 health care quality measures tracked by the federal government in the AHRQ's 2010 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. But only 30% of 22 measures of access to care showed improvement, while 30% remained stagnant and 40% showed declines.

"Every American should have access to high-quality, appropriate and safe health care," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, MD. "We need to increase our efforts to achieve that goal because our slow progress is not acceptable."